Color Challenge -- Wednesday Yellow ~ A Yellow Rose and The Great Forts Of Small-Child History ~ Original Photography and A Somewhat Lengthy Discussion

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~ Blankets, Quilts, Card Tables And More - Oh To Be Young Again ~

[Sized and Placed Here For Thumbnail Dynamics Only. Please Ignore Once You Are Within-Post]

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The Real Image

A Warm and Friendly Feeling Inside

Of Old Card Tables And Quilts

For some reason, when I look at this photo, it reminds of being a kid. My sister and I would spend an entire day making a fort in the living room out of card tables, blankets and sheets, and anything else we could find in the linen closet or cupboards.

Those little square, fold-up bridge and canasta tables lined end to end, cloth blankets and quilts clothes-pinned together on top as a covering. Fully designed to make a giant, fort-like structure. Our creations rambled back and forth throughout the living room like a giant, square, quilt-covered centipede. If we ran out of tables, the davenport or recliner chairs were incorporated into our design as part of our expanding structure of fun.

Once completed, we'd crawl on our hands and knees around the angles and passageways, creating rooms full of couch cushions, pillows and blankets to lounge around on and take full advantage of our fort. Bring in some picture books and a few snacks from the pantry we had to sneak past Mom, and we were set for a long, cozy, deep-in-the-cave Saturday afternoon.

There's Nothing Like The Sun Streaming Through A Thick Blanket

Soon, the sun would move across the back yard, and shine through the huge picture window that faced the south. And that's when the joy would really begin. The bright light of the sun would stream in through the blankets and bedspreads pinned in place, fully illuminating our cave with deep, varying colors of light. It was magical. Blues, greens, browns, reds, oranges, and very bright yellows.

Which is why this picture of the flower takes me back to these days. Back-lit pieces of cloth, that looked much like the photo above. Each 'room' of our cave had a different feel, depending on the blanket cover and the light it created. Soothing blues and greens. Wild reds and oranges, and deep deep, quiet browns. And of course, the bright, bold, effervescent yellows.

Me And The Cat

The deepest yellow light gave off such warmth and a glow, and was incredibly relaxing. When I look at this photo, it gives me the same feeling in the pit of my stomach. A deep, warm glow, lit from without. An incredibly inviting feeling indeed. Makes one feel almost safe, much like a cat, laying out under a tree in the afternoon sun. Just the right time for a long nap in a warm patch of grass. Or in a homemade cavern.

The days were glorious in our little cave-fort. We'd spend hours in there, crawling around from room to room, settling in now and then to eat and read. Read and eat. Time for a change of pace and mood? Crawl to the blue room. Need to feel warmer for awhile, off to the red room between the easy chair and card table number five.

All Good Things Must Be Postponed For Social Reasons

Though a true wonder to hang around in, sooner or later we would be told to dis-assemble our creation, because: "people were coming over for dinner", or some other adult-world need for the living room. Things we understood, but didn't WANT to understand, and also knew we had to comply with.

"Why don't we just leave the fort up, so they all can enjoy it too", was our next, inevitable question. Mom's always have an answer for everything. "Because the sun will go down by then, and it will be dark in there, and no one will be able to see in the dark fort. Plus, Mr. Simioncheck can't crawl around with his trick knee. We don't want to make him feel bad, do we?" Having absolutely NO clue why anyone's knee would be tricky, we would just nod in agreement, and marvel to ourselves about the oddities of the adult world.

Moms can be so diplomatic. I guess that's why they are so good at what they do. So full of wisdom. And we were the kids who went along with it, after such wisdom was dispensed. I guess that's one reason we were so good at what WE did as well.

We'd groan for a bit, all falling on deaf Mom ears, then start taking down our precious fort. Piling, folding up, and putting everything back to where it belonged, and soon go about our fort-less Saturday once more.

Just waiting until the next weekend would arrive, when a 'new and improved' design and varying, sun-dappled color palette could be created in the fort arena, also known as the living room.

"Hey, I've Got A Great Idea..."

Maybe as adults we should all make more forts out of card tables and pinned blankest in our living rooms on Saturday afternoons. Just because we can. Even though most of us are well past chronological eight.

Let's face it, it's all warm and fuzzy inside once the sun comes up, and we all could use some more rest and relaxation from the daily grind. If I scrunch down my little fort-based visuo-factor's a bit, I can just about see it all now.

Take the paper, coffee and a Cinnabon or two into the third blanket room on the left, all bathed in yellow light, and the day would become a true joy in it's passing. Just fluff-up the pillows some more and add a blanket or two and we're all set.

Reality Always Has a 'B' Side

Then again, if all the adults in all of the houses around the world are INSIDE their blanket forts, crawling or laying around, fully enjoying the comfort of the stream-ingly warm yellow light, there will be no-one around to tell the adults when to come OUT of the fort. Who will be left to take it all down, and get the house ready for the friends and neighbors that will soon arrive for the dinner party?

Plus, the sun will go down by then. It will be very dark in the fort, which means everyone will need lamps and extension cords and multi-power strips in the tent complex. And according to the Fire Marshall, we all (should) know THAT'S a major fire hazard. Major sigh. Such are the best-laid plans of we adults that never grow up.

Not only could this be a small hazard, but there will be no one to answer the front door when the bell rings, and the friends and neighbors arrive. They'll all leave in a huff when no one answers their call, which is not a good thing at all.

We could all lose valuable friends and alienate the close-by neighbors, thus becoming a whole lot less socially adept in our world. Which to me seems totally counter to this whole 'feel good, tent full-of-light-in-the-living room' project we're putting together. With that said, I feel an adjustment must be made in this well-designed plan.

Everybody, Head Back To The Photo

Why don't we all just enjoy my photo of the deep, warm, bathing yellow light, and PRETEND we're in a blanket and card table fort on a sunny, warm, Saturday afternoon. The friend and neighbor guests on their way over tonight will all appreciate it, as well as our immediate families.

"Mom, have you seen Dad? He said he'd give me a ride to gymnastics." "Look in the fort dear, last I saw him he was in the green room." "He's in there AGAIN?!" Yes, I think things shall remain as they socio-biologically should be in the homes and neighborhoods of our various corners of the world.

For now, we'll just stick to Plan B, staring at this photo in a happy yet pensive mood, and remembering back to those warm, fort-based times of old.

Thanks for stopping in for a view of the back-lit center of a rose, and thinking back to warmer times past.

~ Finto ~

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Lumix ZS-40  4mm 1/2000 @ f3.3  ISO 100 

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