The Cypress door

di Beatrice Fabbri

door The cypress wood has a distinct, somewhat sour odor while being worked, rated as being durable to very durable in regards to decay resistance. The years and the elements haven’t been kind to the exterior of this 94-year-old, thick, cypress door - said the carpenter. Flakes of varnish still clung to the wood in spots, while the rest of the surface was rough and dried out from the effects of water and sun. Well, it could take a long to restore it - he added – but it was worth it.

She was determinate to save the door – she knew the value of the antique and mostly, she wanted to start refreshing her home. This was a shabby two-rooms apartment she had been living for almost nine years on her own. Here, she enjoyed her indipendence, healed from breakups, found inspiration back into her life. Recently she was feeling like being stuck in a bog, with little time for her self only.

Renovating her house was one of the goal for the new year. It could have been an expensive journey but she had saved money for a long time. Nothing happened at random. It could have been an exhaustive journey since decluttering her home room by room, was not that simple. It could have been a challenging inner journey to finally recover and may be acquire a new sense of herself.

Getting started with entry door became a kind of mantra. Doors are "ways in" or "ways out" of (or to) something. Doors both separate and connect, demark and open - they denote passage and movement- she thought. By the end, doors have always meant a lot to her.

After a long search, she hired a carpenter, one with skills in restoration, Josh Reddish to bring the door back to life. He seemed a man of few words, sharp, hard worker with poetic carpentry skills.

Sooner than she expected, five full days of work, the mindful Josh showed her how the door was back again into a new life. Stripped the old paint, sanded the door as needed, plugged the peepholes, repaired the damaged and rotten wood, repainted the door and finally added the door hardware.

He caressed the door with all his fingers and smiled. The transition was hard but it has been an incredibly rewarding experience, he said. Getting lost and loving the flow-state that occurred in her life came with a gift for her: a new exterior entry door.

Beatrice Fabbri - autore.
	Beatrice Fabbri, docente, autrice, fotografa. Dal 2005, svolgo regolare attività di insegnamento presso la California State University (International Program in Florence), tenendo corsi di Mitologia Greca e Letteratura italiana contemporanea in inglese e in italiano, privilegiando le storie invisibili di uomini e donne e intersecando discipline diverse, storia delle arti visive, cinema, storia materiale in uno zibaldone di collages conoscitivi ma soprattutto emotivi. Amo molto insegnare, la mia passione, stare in un continuo scambio e apprendimento senza competizioni e in libertà..non è sempre facile, ma sto nel movimento e nell’ascolto di chi mi ascolta. Leggi tutto >>