Decks and Dreams

Decks and Dreams--

We live in the country.  Our house is cedar with a shake roof.  It is over forty years old.  We have spent years and years remodeling the house and transforming the grounds into gardens.  It has been a labor of love-most of the time.  People call our home a cottage.  I love that because cottage has a friendly ring to it.

A deck wraps around the back and one side of our house.  It is wooden.  Wooden decks require constant care.  Over the years we have replaced boards, railings and steps.  Each time we repair or replace, we say this will be the last time.  We both know we are singing to the wind.  We understand that after a difficult winter, we will need to do some work on all that decking.

It was apparent after our especially long and hard winter that much work needed to be done on the deck.  We knew we would need to restain it.  Before we could do that, it was necessary to scrape it.  One board at a time all the way around the house.  With the appropriate tool in hand, I began that job.

This type of work requires no particular skill set.  One simply sits down on the deck, places the tool in hand and runs it under the stain/paint.  Over and over and over.  Finish one area and begin another one.

While this is boring work, something interesting developed.  My thoughts began to play around with new ideas.  Sometimes I caught myself talking aloud to no one but me.  I had interesting conversations about many areas of life.  During one of my deck sessions, I came up with a plan to help people learn to appreciate differences.  I laid out all the steps.  I planned how to get people together to talk.  Not yell at one another or interrupt one another.  Simply to talk.  To practice listening and understanding.  In my mind that day it all seemed so simple.

Another day I thought about all the conflicts in the world.  How people refuse to respect one another.  How violence takes the place of peace.  How hurtful life can be.  So, that day I devised a plan to help people understand and appreciate one another.  I thought about ways to teach people about peace.  Sitting on my deck scraping paint it all made sense.

Then there was the day I thought about hunger.  There is plenty of food for everyone in this world.  So, I devised ways to make sure that no one went to bed with an empty stomach.  I made a plan for food centers all over the world, and farmers who would supply food.  Everyone had enough.  No one was hungry.  Yes, it was possible that day on my deck.

I found myself thinking about ways to love others more.  Ways I could be an encourager.  Ways I could gently push people to achieve their goals.  I found myself smiling a lot that day.

Then I planned the perfect vacation.   I bought the perfect car.   Diamonds hung off my neck, ears and fingers.  Surgery took my body back in time to a much happier place.  I sent checks to charities so that they could continue with their work.  I surprised people with unexpected delights. On and on it went. The dreams and sillies of a person exhausted from scraping a very large deck.

The deck is almost finished.  But, the dreams continue.  Maybe it is necessary to dream before reality makes itself known.  Maybe visioning is the beginning.  Once the vision is seen and understood,  the steps can be set in motion.  Yes, I think anything is possible once people wrap their heads around a concept or idea.

Soon the deck will look as good as new.  There will be no need to sit on the deck floor and scrap.  I think I might miss that time just a bit.  I will miss the time to think about nothing or something reallly special.  I will miss speaking aloud while expecting no reply.  I will miss working through situations and coming up with solutions.  Until next spring when we will do it all over.