Rainy day drifting and other religious experiences

Discussion

October 30, 2009

By Karen Middleton The News Courier Fri Oct 30, 2009, 02:21 PM CDT

ATHENS — Rainy days were made for drifting. Somehow getting trapped indoors, is like getting trapped inside one’s head.

For others, rain is invigorating. My Mom always got the urge to go shopping on rainy days.

Rain can also be restful. I know someone who says he falls asleep faster to the sound of rain on the roof.

But for me, I guess I’m a rainy-day drifter. Rainy days have always been a time of sorting for me. I piece together scraps of memory.

On rainy days as a child I would turn to sorting the contents of an antique buffet in our dining room. Not that I hadn’t sorted through the items collected there countless times, but they were always a source of renewed fascination.

Within a shallow, felt-lined top drawer meant for storing silver pieces, was a vast array of junk, but no silver. In a hard, pocket-sized blue-velvet lined case was my Dad’s high school drafting tools.

The protractors and other gleaming instruments always looked slightly medical to me. They came in handy for removing the tonsils or appendix of an ailing doll.

In the drawer was also an abalone handled cuticle knife, dry fountain pens and several postcards. I’d give a cursory glance at messages written long ago from people I’d never met, but one postcard provided an absolute religious experience for me.

The postcard had a likeness of Jesus with his eyes closed in prayer. The image was much like the Head of Christ painted by Warner Sallman in the 1930s, a copy of which hung in my parents’ bedroom.

Except the postcard Jesus was facing straight on. I would take the postcard into my parents’ closet and close the door. Once in total darkness, the postcard Jesus would slowly open His eyes!

Yes. The penetrating gaze was slightly accusatory, making me feel guilty for stuff I hadn’t even done—yet.

This was a delightfully freaky experience, but I didn’t stay in there long. I would see how fast I could open the door, trying to catch the postcard with its eyes open in broad daylight, but to no avail. Shut. Praying. Every time.

The next postcard I unearthed bore the likeness of Adolf Hitler.

This Hitler appeared somewhat flushed. Just his head and shoulders protruded from the bowl of a commode and he was crying, “Goodbye, cruel world!”

I suppose I should be able to make some astute observation about the juxtaposition of a praying Jesus and a departing Hitler in the same postcard collection, but for the life of me it escapes me.

I suppose these postcards would be collector’s items these days, if I knew what happened to them.

Maybe I’ll remember the next time it rains.

Text Only

Karen Middleton

Sept. 11, 2001, felt like beginning of the end of world
September 11, 2011
Scandal has people asking, ‘What’s in a name?’
June 13, 2011
Cher’s 65 and I’ve felt better myself
May 25, 2011 1 Photo
Cruel nature cannot extinguish human spirit
The black monsters that churned out of the skies two weeks ago today took homes, livelihoods, possessions and lives. But they could not destroy the human spirit of survivors.

May 18, 2011
Tragedy brings out best, worst in people
... with each new report of looting, we feel the squeamishness that comes with the realization that this is also a part of human nature.

May 18, 2011
These are my people harmed by tornado
When the all clear was sounded Wednesday ... I lit candles, changed the batteries in my mobile scanner and sat in the semi-darkness, listening throughout the night to the valiant efforts of our emergency responders. They worked together to assess damage and relieve suffering like a well-oiled machine.

May 1, 2011
Hey, sister, can I borrow a hat?
It would not do for the future Queen Catherine of the United Kingdom to “go commando.” Although, according to Cosmo, this is not a new practice. The mag says that some of history’s hottest sex goddesses, such as Cleopatra and Jean Harlow, reportedly went “au naturel” beneath their clothes.

April 29, 2011
Did childhood chest fixation begin with Barbie?
Let’s hope the publicity generated by the push-up bikinis for tots has helped raise some awareness among parents who would be otherwise tempted to rob their precious daughters of the fleeting days of innocent childhood and possibly make them targets for unhealthy, unwholesome elements.

April 29, 2011
When I find myself in times of trouble ...
I thought my life was going along pretty well until I saw a commercial on TV that claims the average mattress doubles its weight in eight years due to dead skin cells and dust mites. E-e-e-u-w!

April 10, 2011
There will never be another one like Liz
I practiced long hours in front of my dressing table mirror with eye makeup, trying to achieve her sultry look. I thought I was doing pretty well, although I knew I could never get my dark brown eyes to appear violet like Liz’s.

March 27, 2011
More Karen Middleton Headlines

Karen Middleton

Search Results

Discussion

Rainy day drifting and other religious experiences

Will your family take a summer vacation this year?

Site Map

Contact Us