Running Towards the Dock

michael-sowa-kohler-s-pigWe saw about a hundred and three houses when we were house hunting. Seriously. Our agent, I’m sure, was ready to punch us square in the throat when we would text with a list of more houses. We weren’t entirely sure what we wanted but knew we’d know when we saw it. That’s the exact attitude that makes real estate agents want to pull their hair out.

In time, however, we started to narrow it down to a few “must have” and “must not haves” and our list got shorter and shorter. One of the houses on our short list in the end had Michael Sowa’s painting “Kohler’s Pig” on display in the living room. I’m assuming it was an original (or at least a really great print) because it was on a golden stand and was lit like a nice painting should be lit. I fell in love immediately. Not so much with the house, although it was an amazing house, but with the pig. I had never seen this painting before and didn’t have a clue as to who the painter was but Google solved all that for me with a quick finger swipe. Turns out there are lots of copies of this fabulous piece of art. You can get it in poster, canvas, t-shirt, coffee mug….all the regular art forms.

I’m sitting on my couch now in my new-to-us home and looking at Kohler’s Pig on my mantle. We bought a different house from the one where I first discovered this happy pig but I knew I wanted to find him again. I found a copy at a near by home decor store and asked the tired sales woman to climb her ladder to the very top shelf to retrieve it for me. I even had a coupon!  Although some of my friends have looked at me like I’m crazy I just really love this pig with my whole heart. I suppose it speaks to what life has felt like lately for us…lots of leaps of faith.

I want to imagine it was a really hot day when Kohler’s pig decided to make a break for it and ran as fast as he could to the pond. I think the water was cool and refreshing and that he swam in circles and twirls and fully enjoyed every moment of the leap. He probably had little butterflies in his belly when he was airborne but the water was bliss.

Life hasn’t slowed down for us since the move. We’ve had painters every day and new windows will come shortly. May is the craziest month of the year for most people with kids because end of year concerts, award banquets, recitals, pop shows, parties….Everyone tries to cram a butt load of closure into one month. And then VBS is there looming for me just around June’s front door. So when people ask if we are all settled yet (we’ve been in the house all of two weeks) I smile and say, “Nope. Not even close” and I’m not joking. I see another month, at least, of chaos ahead. A month of hurried dinners, rushed breakfasts, over flowing laundry baskets, and forgotten keys. But like Kohler’s Pig I am running towards the dock and I see blissful splashing in the very near future.