Last night I had an unfamiliar but welcome Muse come upon me. I was inspired to draw out my future idealistic backyard (with all the trimmings) from the perspective of sitting on my not-yet-existent back porch. It was meant to be an exercise in sketching, but rapidly digressed into an exercise in futility. I loaded the CD player with Carla Bruni and the Zambian Boys a capella Gospel Choir, a seemingly dichotomous pair that doesn't clash at all when you don't speak any french or any indigenous African languages, even if their world views are polar opposites.
So, as I felt the inspiration come on me, eerily reminiscent of days before I knew my Savior, when my Muses were most often escorted to me by illegal substances, I welcomed it; glad for the temporary solace from perpetually being obligated to consider level, plumb, square, and watertight, though I seldom seek such relief, I thought it would feel good to pour out some of my right brain out onto paper. I gathered together a few supplies, paper and pencil; and began drawing, and was actually pleased to see it coming together similar to how I saw it in my mind's eye. I didn't get very far before I ran out of eraser, though. Not that I over-used it, mind you, but it was just a rough stump on the end of the pencil.
"Hmmmm," I thought, "how odd for a nearly brand-new pencil to have so little eraser on it." No sweat though, it would take more than this little setback to shake my Muse. I got up and dug through our writing utensil basket that contains literally close to 100+ pens and pencils. I soon discovered that not ONE STINKING LOUSY pencil had even a sniff of eraser on it!!! My irritation mounting, I start yanking drawers and baskets as I realize what has happened. It dawned on me that one of my little precious ones has developed an obsession for eating pencil erasers! And all the many times I have seen Stu come in the office and dump out the basket, it wasn't just messy childishness, he was really trying to appease the big monkey on his back, the little junky! Does this just happen to everybody? Come on; can't I even escape for a little while after they are all in bed???
So I am pleased to announce the formation of a new support group that I intend to start online. It will be called P.E.N.C.I.L. It stands for: Pencil Eraser are Not for Consumption In Littl'uns. We will focus on making sure that pencils are well out of reach of all children, and ensure that all will be equipped with "eraser locks". We will lobby for a minimum age limit for being able to purchase pencils that carry erasers, (I'm thinking 8 years old ought to do it) and most importantly, people: Parents, please sit your children down at an early age and have that "talk" about pencil erasers! Below is a small example of what your household pencil drawer will look like if this h
abit is left unchecked. And worst of all, if your children's eraser habit is left unchecked, you may be left wasting a 1/2 hour writing a stupid blog instead of drawing a sketch of your back yard. Daniel
So, as I felt the inspiration come on me, eerily reminiscent of days before I knew my Savior, when my Muses were most often escorted to me by illegal substances, I welcomed it; glad for the temporary solace from perpetually being obligated to consider level, plumb, square, and watertight, though I seldom seek such relief, I thought it would feel good to pour out some of my right brain out onto paper. I gathered together a few supplies, paper and pencil; and began drawing, and was actually pleased to see it coming together similar to how I saw it in my mind's eye. I didn't get very far before I ran out of eraser, though. Not that I over-used it, mind you, but it was just a rough stump on the end of the pencil.
"Hmmmm," I thought, "how odd for a nearly brand-new pencil to have so little eraser on it." No sweat though, it would take more than this little setback to shake my Muse. I got up and dug through our writing utensil basket that contains literally close to 100+ pens and pencils. I soon discovered that not ONE STINKING LOUSY pencil had even a sniff of eraser on it!!! My irritation mounting, I start yanking drawers and baskets as I realize what has happened. It dawned on me that one of my little precious ones has developed an obsession for eating pencil erasers! And all the many times I have seen Stu come in the office and dump out the basket, it wasn't just messy childishness, he was really trying to appease the big monkey on his back, the little junky! Does this just happen to everybody? Come on; can't I even escape for a little while after they are all in bed???
So I am pleased to announce the formation of a new support group that I intend to start online. It will be called P.E.N.C.I.L. It stands for: Pencil Eraser are Not for Consumption In Littl'uns. We will focus on making sure that pencils are well out of reach of all children, and ensure that all will be equipped with "eraser locks". We will lobby for a minimum age limit for being able to purchase pencils that carry erasers, (I'm thinking 8 years old ought to do it) and most importantly, people: Parents, please sit your children down at an early age and have that "talk" about pencil erasers! Below is a small example of what your household pencil drawer will look like if this h
abit is left unchecked. And worst of all, if your children's eraser habit is left unchecked, you may be left wasting a 1/2 hour writing a stupid blog instead of drawing a sketch of your back yard. Daniel
2 comments:
O the joys! Just don't stifle the Muse for too long. My backyard deck was conceived soon after we moved here in 1981. We christened it by celebrating my oldest son's 18th birthday on it...22 years later!
May your eraser junkie learn to put in deck screws before he kicks the habit!
At the Madgwick household the remedy was a box of those attachable pencil erasers. That ought to appease the erasing muser.
Post a Comment