She's Comin' Down

hey y'all!

on the way home from today's thrifting haunts, i drove by "my" old silver water tower as usual. it seems i've always lived nearby this water tower, ever since i was born. it was an icon of my childhood. a part of the scenery and background of my life.

when i was a little girl, i used to imagine it bursting and flooding the neighborhood ... but mainly i had happy thoughts and memories of it. the silver tower served as a beacon in many ways. i always knew HOME was close by.

well, i was gobsmacked to see HUMANS on top of it and quickly pulled over to take some pictures. then i drove closer to investigate. were they cleaning it??

i drove down the little side street leading to the fenced-in area at the bottom of the tower ... and discovered a full crew of worker men, cranes, etc. OH! they're renovating it, i thought to myself. how nice!

i noticed a clark kent-looking guy, notebook & pen in hand, interviewing what must've been a supervisor, because all he was doing was standing there in his hard hat, smoking a cig. it didn't take long for them to spot me and soon they were at my car.

i babbled on and on about how special this water tower was to me, growing up in the shadows of this silver giant, blah blah blah ... and then the reporter blurted out, "well you DO know they're tearing it down?!"

"uh, no. i did NOT know that. i thought y'all were cleaning it. or even better ... renovating it. you can't tear down my tower!"

"it's not being used," said hard hat. "they built a newer one over on lake road."

like. THAT. mattered. to. me.

clark kent started asking me reporter-type questions and scribbling fast and furious (i talk fast) about my history with the tower (oh, we go WAY back, all the way to 1961). my sweet little elementary school (fowler elem) is right across the street, where i spent 6 years of my childhood and many hours on the playground swings and slides, looking up at my huge silver friend and wondering what it'd be like to climb up that high. scary!!!

after chatting with hard hat and clark, i left the scene feeling a definite and significant sense of loss. tomorrow, i'm told, is when the "BIG" crane comes and "that's when things will really start coming down fast," hard hat had told me.

i don't think i can watch it. how do you watch an old friend just crumble (or clang) to the ground?? i circled the streets and took a few more shots of the silver giant, realizing this may be the last time i see her standing there.

keeping Perspective in check, i realize a water tower isn't a person or pet. i've lost both and nothing compares to that grief. but it's still a loss ... perhaps just a symbolic icon of my childhood and the fact that sometimes memories will have to do.

love and hugs,
terry lee

Easter in Wonderland

hey y'all!

easter is quickly approaching and i've found myself in a bit of a funk. don't get me wrong ... i celebrate the true meaning of easter with my fellow believers, and am very thankful that He Is Risen.

however, on an entirely self-absorbed, emotional level, i've had some trouble with it all lately. i think it started when pal bonnie asked what my easter plans were. was i cooking a big meal?

whaaa?! cooking? a big meal? for whom?! hubby and me? my youngest (and the older two for that matter) will be with his dad this weekend. upon more scratching and picking at the emotional scab, my mind began to wander to easters past ... when my kids were little.



ahh! those were the days. when i was young, had more energy and of course, the major motivation of little ones expecting easter baskets full of chocolate bunnies, colorful eggs filled with jelly beans and other surprises ... and naturally, a big ol' easter lunch after church. ham, potato salad, green beans, etc. and a lovely hand-decorated easter cake for dessert! this usually meant a cake mix with canned frosting, green coconut on top, for grass, and jelly beans representing eggs. they were easily amused when they were young.



anyhow, thinking of those erstwhile easters ... and even further back to those of my own childhood (big, HUGE affairs!) i sensed a slow but sure spiraling downward, almost as if i were alice in wonderland falling down the rabbit hole. memories of easters past swirled and whirled around me as i fell deeper and deeper. then just as surely as alice landed, so did i. with a thud.

no need to worry, or call the men in white coats. i'm steering clear of strange mushrooms or little bottles of magical potions. but i am looking for the madhatter. i could use a funny, silly tea party about now.



meantime, while waiting for the white rabbit, i wanted to show y'all some more pics of projects i've been working on.

the much-ballyhooed church pew finale! liked it so much i put it in my front "parlor" area

different angle

close up

y'all remember last month when i blogged about that grrrreat gumball machine i found for $5?! i had some gum-popping plans for that baby.



first thing was to slap some pink paint on her. i'll admit to experimenting with different fillers for the glass bowl. but that's the beauty of this piece! you can change the vignette over and over and over!

she sits pretty next to my recently re-done pink chair

gorgeous glass knob for a makeshift finial that was missing

filled with all manner of musings ... tea cups! pearls, lace!

balls of precious pink and white thread!



makes you want to stick a quarter in and buy something, eh?

here's my vintage lady in her easter dress and bonnet. well, i wanted a real bonnet for her but couldn't find one. she'll be okay, except for the incessant whining. she's such a diva.

in case y'all didn't notice it in the photo of the church pew, here's a close up of my FREE column/pedestal. had to use her inside because, well, i wanted to.

isn't she lovely? isn't she wonderful?!


love, love, love these colors! my newly found turquoise tablecloth is a perfect easter color. sweet candlestick (from GW bargain barn, but still had the hobby lobby sticker!) paired with a vintage glass creamer filled with sweet balls of thread from an estate sale. i like the idea of mixing the new with the old.

happy easter, y'all!

love and hugs,
terry lee