January's Gifts and Other Miracles

I began this week tossing things from the closet, the drawers and shelves in the pantry and any other space that looked overburdened. January is a wonderful time to clear one's house and one's head...a time to come clean -- why wait until spring? It is amazing to me how many things I have accumulated - some I don't even remember using like the box of oil crayons that I'd planned to use on my first painting. Never happened. I realized that the true artist in our family had been my older brother. I was left with a good sense of color and design but without the ability to put paint to canvas. A dear friend suggested I use a giant brush, to extend my brushstrokes thereby expanding my sense of freedom -- perhaps even my view of myself. So far I haven't had the courage to do it. I keep thinking that like all of the other boxes of unused tools that I tossed today, the giant brush will find its way into the trash as well. But...maybe not. Maybe I have to take the risk. Stay tuned.

Another thing that drew my attention this week was an article in the New York Times about Fainting Goats http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/dining/06frozen.html. The goats have a genetic predisposition to begin to lean one way or another if they are startled. The leaning or "fainting" lasts for about ten seconds. Older goats learn early on to brace their legs when this fainting feeling happens. Amazing, isn't it? If you were fortunate enough to have seen the article, you'll perhaps understand my affinity for the photo -- one half page of Chip, a Fainting Goat, innocently staring directly at the reader, looking as handsome as can be. He has been on my mind ever since I laid eyes on him. I believe it is the sheer vulnerability of the animal that draws me. My family chuckles when I bring up the subject but I know better. Chip is a vision not to be tossed with the January cleaning but to be savored as another of God's miracles.