Making Home

Kirk and I began dating more as friends than anything else. He was going to move to Utah in the summer, I had a summer job in Colorado lined up. With a definite end date in view we had no expectations and could just relax and take things easy. We knew we weren't going anywhere. We would meet up at the university during the day, and call in the evenings, talking until my father got fed up and kicked me off the phone.

One night Kirk began talking about how he would like to build a cabin somewhere - nothing big or elaborate, just a simple house that he made himself. And I realized that I wanted to be part of that. No thought of long-term romance or marriage or anything; far more imporant at that moment was the warmth of friendship, and making something together.

We never managed it. There were a couple of reasons - no money for a long time, and too much moving around. But the idea of making a home remained in the background. The closest we ever came was that little house in Albuquerque. It was the only place that we could do a little bit of work on to make it our own.

There were any number of things that needed doing - most beyond our ability - but we did put in a new front door. We got a simple one, but solid wood, then stained it a lovely dark brown. I still don't know how we managed to hang it straight and true (we were low on patience as well as ability), but we did. And to finish it off we bought a brass door knocker, a lion's mask with a heavy handle that could just be dropped for a satisfying rap. When we moved away the knocker stayed with the house.

I'd like to build a home, build it ourselves, the kids and me. It woud be a small house of stone that would last for years; a place of permanance. I would paint the front door red. And there would be a knocker with a lion's mask.