A HELPING HAND (2025-25)

Light.

Two of my light-loving daughters; one a Medical Doctor and one a Speech Language Pathologist work in places that disproportionally deprive them of sunlight. Their light sources at work are mostly man made, often fluorescent. Pleasant enough, and relatively comfortable and professional, but they lack God given light (except for the light they themselves bring.) Annie, being a speech therapist in an Elementary School, is usually given an oversized closet for her workspace. All three of our daughters have chosen homes that have exceptional windows. In fact they all have full walls of windows in their houses.

The home they grew up in, where Dave and I still live, was designed to savor the light that comes to us over the Great Salt Lake. We built it to invite light in as a daily guest.  

We put wooden blinds in our large bay window there our dining table sits. They've been there for 30 years now. We chose blinds that lower and raise rather than shutters that block out too much light with their frames. For 3 full decades these blinds are lowered at night to maintain our privacy. My morning routine includes a stop in the dining area, where I raise the blinds to welcome the maximum amount of sunlight. In the summer months the trees outside give us appropriate shade without blocking the light.

For years I let the fabric cords in the blinds handle all the heavy lifting of those wooden slats. I'd pull the full weight with my right hand. Finally one day it hit me: if I used my left hand to lift the weight of the blinds while my right hand pulled the cord, there would be less strain on the mechanism and  the cords.

The blinds, if they could talk, would thank me for lightening their load.

Be a left hand for someone. Welcome in the light.