Un Dia Perdido

Today is going to be a lost day - un dia perdido. Storms are forecasted with strong winds. My project list during Maribel's absence is pretty well completed. Plus it's Sunday. I never liked Sundays, even as a kid. Sunday was a visit-grandpa-and-grandma day. And I had to wear my best clothes which carried with it the caution from mother that, "...and don't you get those clothes dirty or I'll tell your father!" And the other kids were doing Sunday family stuff like visiting grandpa and grandma, going to the zoo, taking a ride in the country or having a picnic in a park so there was nobody to play with and nothing to do. It was in those early days that I discovered the value of a sanctuary - a place where I could relax, read, or just feel good and think about things. As a little kid I shared a bedroom with my sister so the front porch was my sanctuary. Later I had my own room and that was my first real sanctuary where I could enjoy my privacy and also shut out the trials and tribulations of being a teenager. 

For the next 40 years, living at many different addresses I didn't have a sanctuary; didn't really even think about it. Wherever I was I always had a favorite chair for reading or listening to music but that's not the same thing. Later, when everything in my life went south; when I threw up my hands in surrender and said screw it, I bought a place in Wisconsin's north woods. It had what the previous owner called a sun room. I've always been a history buff and particularly medieval history, and I could see the potential for a medieval sanctuary in that sun room. It didn't take me long to build a medieval chest, table and lamp, and to locate medieval wall hangings and drapes. At night I'd light candles, listen to new age music and let the peaceful feeling of Camelot wash over me. I loved that room.

Fast forward to Chiclayo, Peru. We built a second floor apartment and off of what we designated as the office area was a small triangular space that we weren't sure what to do with. We thought about adding a door and using it for storage but it seemed like it had more potential than just a storage room. That's when  the thought of a sanctuary took shape. Maribel, Brian and me lived in the apartment and sometimes one of us or all of us would sit in what we called El Bistro watching the movement on the street with only candles for illumination. I spent hours stringing beads to make the room divider. It was a great place to eat lunch during the day and to watch the world go by at night.

On to the present. We decorated our home in northern Georgia pretty much as we wanted it. There was a room off of the kitchen-dining area that except for a filing cabinet was empty. That changed when we purchased a humongous Queen Anne dining set. It forced us to rearrange the living room, kitchen-dining area, and to utilize the empty room. Our old kitchen set had to go in it, which dictated that we do something to complete the room, and that was when the idea of El Bistro II arose. We had to buy a few things but mostly it was just a matter of relocating items we already had. To top it off and maintain the El Bistro tradition, Maribel strung beads for the doorway. 

Yesterday I also said that it was going to be un dia perdido, but that changed when I went to get the mail and upon opening the box had it fall into my hands. The wood base attaching the mail box to the metal pole had rotted and crumbled. I didn't have the right size board so had to splice and join some pieces to make one. Then it had to be painted and while it was drying I went to Home Depot for machine screws, nuts and lock washers. All of this while working in between isolated thunderstorms so the project took me most of the day.

I am determined that today will be a lost day. Unless I remember something I should do or something else comes up. But until/unless that happens, I intend to spend a good part of the day where I am right now...sitting in front of that lap top in El Bistro II.