Chandelier !

Our work on the 7th Street house in Corvallis is back on again. While my family and friends in North Central Washington are experiencing the deepest snow of decades, we are in the misty fog of the Willamette Valley working on Pa’s grandmother’s old home. Grandma Dick was a warm, happy person who would be so pleased to see her grandson’s skills and talents improving and restoring her home. Surely she is smiling somewhere. Making thrifty improvements to this approximately hundred year old home takes patience, imagination, ingenuity, luck and resilience.

Which reminds me somehow of the movie we watched the other night. Okay, our project isn’t revolutionary , as is the building of a nuclear fusion device, but both have in common the need for time. This movie is excellent and inspiring.

LET THERE BE LIGHT Official Trailer from EyeSteelFilm on Vimeo.

Anyway, the light fixture in the dining room had been replaced with a modern pendant that we didn’t care for. The old fashioned built in cabinets and classic windows called for something more elegant. A chandelier!

The last time we were here we took a romantic drive to find and photograph covered bridges near Eugene, and to shop for a bathtub. We found a darling and reasonably priced chandelier at a sweet antique shop. We protected it from the weather in a black plastic bag as we drove back from Eugene. A few days later , we made a major trip to the landfill with debris and trash – some of it in bags, some loose. We never found the chandelier again. Haste made waste that day, as we disappointedly realized we had inadvertently tossed it with other junk .

Months later, our design idea came back to us when we looked in a give away pile in a neighbor’s driveway . This nearby bin often has items for sale or items for free. There was a fine looking brass toned chandelier! Not to say we deserved to have another chance, but there it was! Pa brought it home and Voila! It is now a lovely addition to this charming little home. Many thanks, muchas gracias , merci beaucoup universe for your many many blessings. May we find ways to reciprocate, and may we be humble.

This trait of finding treasure in trash reminds me of this old video from a few years back when Entiat had a day a year for metal recycling. I really looked forward to those events.