Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer · 4 Comments

Fresh Perspective

It’s been one week of living in our new home. This is the ‘dream house’ I saw seven years ago, and have been holding as vision in my heart ever since. Though it’s still settling in as a true reality, yes, I am actually dwelling within these walls now.

Having been built about 30 years ago, there are layers of lives that have passed through the rooms of this house. We are slowly clearing cobwebs and cleaning cupboards, as we get to know the personality of this beautiful abode that has welcomed us to nest here.

Though some may argue that tasks like getting your kitchen in working order may rank  a higher priority, cleaning the windows seemed an even worthier starting point. Jeb and the Bohemian worked in tandem, washing both sides.

Gotta love a clear perspective…

2014-02-08_windows

Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer · 2 Comments

Tuning to Here

Ben Harper asks me to sit beside him onstage at an outdoor concert. I hold the guitar on my lap while he’s got the neck, tuning and plucking strings like a master.

He tells the audience that the first time he met me was at one of his shows, where I was backstage and he was just arriving.

He explains that he was a bit late, I had noticed the time, and my first words to him upon meeting were, “You’re not here yet.”

He laughs in his recounting, keeps sounding stings while looking at me, and says, “So I thought to myself, ‘well, then, I want to get here.'”

Morphing, as dreams do, into mirage-like segues that fade one into the next, Ben Harper leaves the stage into the crowd and I’m left to sit with his guitar.

And then, my husband appears offering a bouquet of flowers. Gifting them for “Jessica” not for “my wife.” Which is somehow understood by both of us that sometimes the title matters. Newlyweds may enjoy trying new ones on, but it’s important to remember the first name of your spouse.

As if on cue, just this rousing side of dreamland, my son garbles “Jessica” (not “Mom”) in a sleepy call from his bedroom.

In the waking world I may be an artist still tuning the instrument, looking toward the masters of the craft.

I am a wife. A mother. Both of these, still learning.

And time, it’s an illusion, fooling, but ever-present.

Jessica is still not fully here yet. But trying to tune in.

photo courtesy of Evan Mitchell
photo courtesy of Evan Mitchell
Posted on by Jessica Dofflemyer

Under the Hood

A mechanic and two of his assistants arrive at the front door of my dream, somewhere between the snooze button and waking.

In the end, there was no issue with car except for some melting ice cream sandwiches in the back seat.

But there was that Black Hills gold ring I was gifted back in high school. The Bohemian pulled it from the jewelry box and showed the mechanic the broken, inlaid leaf.

The mechanic says we can see the artist that made the ring if we look closely at the underside. I use my camera at the macro setting and zoom to reveal the smallest sketching in the gold. A hidden, miniature world is revealed, detailing a palm tree, a man, and the name Bruce Piston.

We are grateful to the mechanic and friends for their assistance and pay them something for their time, happy it’s not a hefty repair bill. We walk them to the door and say goodbye.

I wake, turn off the snooze setting, and rise.

I think we should all know what drives us, but I’ll admit that I have to refresh my memory on exactly what a piston does beneath the hood.

If I understand correctly, it’s a shaft that exerts force inside a cylinder, which ultimately creates a combustion that powers the vehicle. Piston rings (hmmm…) are seals that keep the shaft and cylinder lubricated in their motion.

Melting ice cream sandwiches, a Black Hills gold ring, false alarm on a car repair, and the miniature world of a dreamtime artist named Bruce. These are the threads, loose and scattered, that have yet to be woven to any neat conclusion or meaning.

That can be the welcome relief of dreams. And I love it that way.

photo courtesy of Doctor Popular
photo courtesy of Doctor Popular