The Glow
I got a new daybed in my house. The bed is minimalist for a small but important room: the room has the sacred palm in it. I’ve reupholstered the furniture to fit in this new house. I’ve had pillows made. Lamps are set out. Pictures hung. Bedding added. Charging stations rigged up, carts assembled, rugs cleaned and laid on their mats. Brooms have been housed in crannies. The washer and dryer stacked in the closet hum and whirl reliably.
Twigs gathered, a nest feathered.
The lamps glow golden in the night, seeping into darkness at the edges.
When I lie on my back on the front porch and gaze upward, I see the softly painted blue ceiling…and a mouse scurrying down the overhead wires.
We have no curtains.
This house—warm, quiet, peaceful—just withstood a 1-mile-shy of Cat 3 hurricane. When the storm was bearing down, I was calm in a way I’m not sure is admirable. I thought, I have loved my house for three months. I might lose it. But I have had it as mine and loved it for a while. Be grateful for that.
When Zeta blew through, the neighbor’s tree shook loose a deluge of rose-colored blossom, stiff as rice paper, baptizing the entire house (front yard, back yard, side yards) and our welcome mat with rose petals.
Donna Weidner
Happy to see you are safe. We (husband and 4 kids) spent Wilma in a walk-in closet. Nope. Never want to do that again. The rose petals sure are pretty though. Be well!
Ellen Morris Prewitt
I remember Wilma! Wilma, Rita, and Katrina, the unholy trio. I’ve lived through 3 hurricanes and said I won’t do it again. We happened to be in Memphis when this one came through, but, given the forecasts, I probably wouldn’t have evacuated. Then it suddenly turned into a terrible storm. So I’m glad we were out of town!
Susanne
My goodness, it’s like your house was the centre of a satchel of potpourri. Did it smell like roses? Your nest sounds idyllic and like a wonderful place to write and think, watched over by the sacred palm. Please send me a link to why you call it the sacred palm. You must have written about it, right?
Ellen Morris Prewitt
Yes, that’s exactly what it looked like. But it didn’t smell. And not knowing the tree dropping yellow flowers would later drop these red petals, it was a true mystery. Left most of them in the backyard, to decompose at will.
I’m not sure I’ve ever explained the sacred palm directly, but this is probably the earliest post it appeared in. I actually bought 3 of these because I just knew I would need them. I have gradually given the other two away so the lone palm shines in our new house. .https://ellenmorrisprewitt.com/when-my-foot-was-wet/
Susanne
Your new home sounds lovely as does the room with the sacred palm. What an idyllic place to write! And I can’t imagine what it would be like to live at the centre of a rose petal filled satchel of potpourri as you were after Zeta deposited rose petals around your home. Wow.
Joanne Corey
So glad to hear your home made it through safely. Your loving descriptions of it are wonderful.
Ellen Morris Prewitt
TY!?