a thought about 100 boxes

Boxes are to be filled and emptied. I am building/filling/emptying 100 boxes. I am mindful of the items in the box but also the box itself. How it is constructed, with what material and from whose hands.
Each box will have a short praise to the box/contents.
I am a builder. Not a writer. But words on paper to reflect praise and thanks

Box 1 and 2
Apple Crate
Careful cutting to make a sealed box. Needing a boost on either end of the couch on stage. Needed for naïve players who steal our hearts in performance. So many differently abled. A neuro- divergent cast of 32 developing a musical. The 2 boxes will support them as they play fully as the President of the Untitled States. Praising the freedom to express.

Box 3
Bench
He died before I could deliver the bench. While others replaced the rotten deck, I assigned myself to build a new bench. Asian influence in the design, respecting Mami his wife, who is Japanese. The bench is really a box, that uses the ground under to create one long side. I thought of him in the VA as his body broke down, rotting like the deck. I made a box, that he never sat on, but Mami will have each morning, while the sun rises and coffee is at hand. Praising the sun and coffee as a way of making it through.

Box 4
Platform
New request for a chair on platform to carry in Melon Husk. Found a zebra striped armchair for $5, built a box with casters and room for the IV pole and bag. Entre’ Act material- requires a floating box with a chair. Praise for theater magic and the long traditions passed along.

Box 5
Sculpture
Loise Nelson retrospective. So many boxes- white, gold, black. Found on NYC streets and becomes sculpture. Sensing/seeing it with vision change-( it happened suddenly 3 months ago- as if someone smeared Vaseline on my right eye.) Grateful to eyes, although imperfect.

Box 6-12
Neuropathy
Built some flats with luan and 1”x 2”. Designer in Houston, once an oral surgeon, now a children’s theatre set designer. Show is in Dallas, much distance between the two towns. These are tall thin boxes that represent the Oval Office in the White House. In final assembly I screwed threw some lumber to my index finger, under the fingernail. Odd to not feel pain as I reverse my drill gun and remove the screw. Blood but no pain. Praise and thankfulness for neuropathy, a strange gift from the Corona virus.

Box 13
Greenhouse
Bob’s greenhouse tent flew up into a tree. Cold weather with dirty rain. Got to get his box out of the tree and secure to the ground for hard freeze coming. Praise for coffee to keep us warm as we fish the greenhouse box out of the tree. Praise for friends who will drop everything and come to assist.

Box 14
Script
A black notebook with 90 pages inside. New play by an old friend. He wants my thoughts, which I will give. A play is a box that needs to be opened and looked into. When done, we shut it. But it’s contents stay with us. Praise to writing and its impact.

Box 15
Cable
There is a black box that holds the internet for me. The cable from the black box is down from pole to house. I find some zip ties to tie the cable up. Suspect it could strangle someone in the dark if left down. The black box of support over the phone has me on hold- passing along to the next operator. The black box of the internet holds many things. Patience is not one of them. Praise for available time to be able to sit on hold.

Box 16
Body
My body is a box that holds muscle, bone, sinew, water and fat. Inside my body/box my spine is whacked but working. Crooked from years of toil has made it degrade. But working on my back inside the box of my body through physical therapy has given me relief. Praise to people in the medical field who are healers of our brokenness.

Box 17 and 18
Brooms
More strange boxes. These were made into brooms, with plastic, straw and jute. Painted to be twins to Harry Potter’s. To fly in from above and whisk two players off stage. Praise to the magic of theater and our ability to suspend our disbelief.

Box 19
Poles
Opening a box which holds two poles. They are for my sister, who has bad knees. Taking her to Wales soon, the birth place of our paternal great grandfather. Many hills and valleys to traverse. the poles will help brace her and allow her to be a part of our ancestral home. Praise and gratitude to our ancestors.

Box 20
Spirit
Church is a box that I am opening again. Going inside to praise, sing and worship. The power of music and faith. So many people in ecstasy, being filled with the Holy Spirit. I return to this place after many years away.

So many boxes that I have not written about. But they are there. They have been emptied and filled again. Built and torn apart. My life continues with so many boxes.