The Lodge

A house can take on a patina.
A visible, tangible echo of its history.

When a threshold is worn by hundreds of sandy feet returning from the beach.
And the floorboards are gently polished by late night lovers waltzing to the radio on a summer night.
The fingerprints that remain on the wainscoting
just inside the kitchen door
darkening in layers as each hands that has picked the fresh blueberries
searches for the pantry light switch.

The clean rectangle of paint that remembers the old photo
that met up with the baseball
that absolutely was not thrown
by your big brother in the house.

That little bit of charring at the edge of the kitchen cupboard
when Grandpop tried to flambee the whiskey soaked cherries jubilee.

The scratches high up on the wall
that swing in a gentle arc worn down to bare wood
by the tops of fishing poles stacked and waiting in the mudroom corner.

The chips of green paint on the door
which flake away to reveal the old blue paint on the door
which was meant to cover the red paint that had faded to pink.

And the whispers of sizzling bacon and beeswax
and cool watermelon and winter woodsmoke
and wool jackets and sunscreen
and lilac and concord grapes
and cedar and good dogs and rainy days.

If a house is lucky enough to survive generations
of summers and waltzes and baseballs and old dogs
then the patina becomes a map
and the truth of our story
is the treasure buried under the big red X.

And a painting can take on a patina of it’s own.
A history revealed by it’s brushstrokes and paint
and… just under the surface.

On a dark and stormy night this winter, in true New England fashion,
a fierce Nor’easter blew threw the island
rattling and shaking the gallery walls
where this painting was hanging on for dear life.

One great blast of hurricane force winds managed to pick it right up off the wall
and toss it dramatically to the floor where it was found the next day with only a small scratch.

It’s been repaired and restored and now
and like every good Yankee
it has a scar and a good story to tell.