Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Monday, April 28, 2008
Beauty Beyond the Alley
I was once told that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Well, my eyes are getting pretty bad and it seems more difficult to see beauty all the time. After 48 years on this planet, I see uglyness more easily. Destruction, war, murder, negativity, even everyday stress, cloud my vision and distort my perceptions.
I wonder, have I become too cynical, too jaded, too old???? To see the beauty beyond the alley?
In the Chicago neighborhood where I grew up, behind every apartment building, two-flat or single brick home, was an alley. The place for all things, dirty, rotten, and smelly resided there. Large rusty cans filled with garbage, stood in the back of each home, buzzing with stuff to keep Oscar the Grouch, flies and soon-to-be flies (if you've lived in the city, you know the disgusting white larvae I'm talking about!) content for a lifetime. The alleys themselves were strewn with junk that never made it to the cans.
You might think it the least likely place to find beauty, but as a curious kid, I discovered it all the time.
Gravel and dirt covered the pitted cement and if you looked closely, you could always excavate a diamond or two - a rock with specks that sparkled in the sun, or a piece of colored glass just the right size to hide in your jewelry box and show to your best friend, if she hadn't tagged along for that particular expedition.
The rusty wire fence along one side was often dotted with another wonder, wildflowers, which quickly became bouquets we presented to our mothers or to have and to hold at our pretend weddings.
And these were only the most obvious treasures. If you were willing to go beyond the alley, peer around the garbage cans and brave barking dogs to peek over gates or between the slats of tall fences you might just get a glimpse of heaven.
Because in some backyards grew gardens of Eden. My eyes gazed upon flowers with shades of color so vibrant, I would catch my breath. In other small spaces, rows of green sprouted vegetabes, or a water pond mimicked the sound of a babbling brook, or gingerbread playhouses with white laced curtains sat nestled in the grass.
An alley is a Slighlty Off place to find beauty, but it's a good reminder that if we look beyond it, there is always beauty to behold.
Let's look beyond the alley today!
I wonder, have I become too cynical, too jaded, too old???? To see the beauty beyond the alley?
In the Chicago neighborhood where I grew up, behind every apartment building, two-flat or single brick home, was an alley. The place for all things, dirty, rotten, and smelly resided there. Large rusty cans filled with garbage, stood in the back of each home, buzzing with stuff to keep Oscar the Grouch, flies and soon-to-be flies (if you've lived in the city, you know the disgusting white larvae I'm talking about!) content for a lifetime. The alleys themselves were strewn with junk that never made it to the cans.
You might think it the least likely place to find beauty, but as a curious kid, I discovered it all the time.
Gravel and dirt covered the pitted cement and if you looked closely, you could always excavate a diamond or two - a rock with specks that sparkled in the sun, or a piece of colored glass just the right size to hide in your jewelry box and show to your best friend, if she hadn't tagged along for that particular expedition.
The rusty wire fence along one side was often dotted with another wonder, wildflowers, which quickly became bouquets we presented to our mothers or to have and to hold at our pretend weddings.
And these were only the most obvious treasures. If you were willing to go beyond the alley, peer around the garbage cans and brave barking dogs to peek over gates or between the slats of tall fences you might just get a glimpse of heaven.
Because in some backyards grew gardens of Eden. My eyes gazed upon flowers with shades of color so vibrant, I would catch my breath. In other small spaces, rows of green sprouted vegetabes, or a water pond mimicked the sound of a babbling brook, or gingerbread playhouses with white laced curtains sat nestled in the grass.
An alley is a Slighlty Off place to find beauty, but it's a good reminder that if we look beyond it, there is always beauty to behold.
Let's look beyond the alley today!
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