Hello, Strangers.
For the first five years of my life, I lived in Washington State. The sun rose at three-thirty in the morning, and by noon the sky was covered in a thick blanket of gray clouds. It would drizzle throughout the day, and this happened most days. My preferences were set. The blue sky was off putting to me, and white puffy clouds were ugly. I hated nothing more than the sun. From then on, every place we lived disappointed me in its lack of gray days and rain.
Many years later we found ourselves on the Southern border of the United States. The sun there was different than anywhere else I had ever been. It wasn’t yellow or golden, adding depth to the color of plants and trees around it, it was almost white. It bleached the desert ground and sky, turning them a pale tan and a faded blue. Frequently, there were no clouds to break up the monotony, so the blue sky sat motionless, the sun a pale king on its shifting throne. For months I felt physically sick looking at it, but with time, I learned to adapt. I would go out and squint at it, burn my arms, shoulders, and feet under its heat. I read books on the covered patio and sweat, and in the evenings I would sit on the low stone wall surrounding my house and talk to the memory of a loved one recently lost. It was the evenings that began to change my mind. Sitting out there, praying, or struggling with a memory, the sun would set behind me. The lights of the inner city began to glow in the distance, and the sky turned in a moment.
All of a sudden, there were swirls of wisping cirrus clouds and massive cumulonimbus clouds that looked like cotton candy, and it was like the sun reflected off a diamond. For about seven minutes, the sky held greens, oranges, blues, purples, pinks, and reds. I would look up and smile until my face hurt at what I dubbed Tolkien Skies, because they looked like they held epic adventures.
We eventually moved from this place too. The next place we went, the sun was back to its warm summer glow, and the green trees and earth returned, and I found I couldn’t live without sunlight as I had when I was very young. So, my dream this week is of a sun catcher.
I would like to build a wooden fence and gate, and all throughout the gate I would like to drill holes. In the holes I will place colored marbles, and seal them in with clear glue. Every day that the sun is out, they will trap its light and glow, and when the sun is placed just so in the sky, it will shine through them in rainbow beams of color. It will be the perfect entrance to my home and garden, and I believe it will make me very happy.
As always thank you for reading, and remember to dream this week,
–Mabel
To All My Strangers 