Empty shelf - no more

I have floating shelves on both sides of my fireplace. The top left shelf has been empty...for a long time. It’s the most prominent self. I just have not found anything I like for that spot.

I’ve tried potted plants, fresh cut flowers, and tree branches - all of which required regular attention. I already have a tall ceramic sculpture on the shelf across the fireplace, so it has to balance without being too similar. I thought about a drift log. (We had one I really liked growing up at my parents’ “tokonoma”. We brought it from a mountain and varnished it.) But, I wanted something vertical. How about a stone sculpture? But, that felt too heavy for a floating shelf. Umm... Nothing clicked. So, I just left it open.

One day, I came across this while looking for something else online. 

I liked it, kind of. Simple enough form with upward movement. The size seemed to work, so as the color. It just felt a little too light and somewhat weak. Possibly too curvy to my liking?

When I built this house with a production builder (not custom), the original design had interior arches all over. It was a trend at the time. I told the builder not to make any arch openings and use straight lines instead. I’m glad I did. There are many beautiful curvy things in this world I like and admire. But, I tend to get attracted to cleaner lines, even a tad masculine designs.

Then I thought, well, the self space was nothing but straight lines, so why don’t I put this curvy piece in the middle and see how I like it. 

The piece came. It was good, but not great. I felt it needed a little more height and some color as it blended in the mirror behind it. I thought about making a small box base and wrapping it with a piece of beautiful fabric. I checked a few stores and did not find any fabric I liked. 

A few weeks past, then I suddenly remembered I had a wooden box that was probably the right size. When I went into the office closet to get it, I saw a Japanese handcrafted paper with silver and gold flakes there. I had this for over thirty years and almost forgot about it.

I carefully wrapped the box with the paper and placed the piece on it. That gave what was missing - a base for this piece’s upward movement. 

The peice got a base. The box and paper found their place. The shelf is no longer empty.

Yakushima in sandals

7 years ago my oldest and I were in Yakushima, Japan. The island with the tallest mountain in Kyushu, famous for its dense forest with 2000+ years old Jomon-Sugi, where they say it rains 35 days in a month.

We barely slept, left the inn shortly before 2 am, took a local bus, then switched to a private bus that dropped us off at the trailhead in pitch black darkness. As more hikers arrived, most with their private guides and headlamps, we headed in. The first leg was pretty easy; we just walked on the old logging railroad. 

The scenery got interesting once we left that easy trail and started ascending. Hundreds of mystical looking ancient trees, with roots like tentacles covered with moss, were just everywhere. 

As we walked past groups, we overheard their guides explaining the vegetation and the history of the island. Some guides looked at my son’s feet and told us he should not be on this trail. He was hiking in his sandal with T-shirt and shorts - more like being on a beach. Most others were dressed in proper hiking attire.

With those sandals, my son skipped up the trail quickly and had to wait frequently for me to catch up. We had good weather. Trails were all clear on the way up to Jomon-Sugi and down to almost Wilson Stump. 

Then rain started. We took shelter in the Stump for a while, quickly realized the rain wouldn't stop anytime soon, and started to trek down. My rain jacket was no use. I was drenched; my hiking boots were full of water and heavy. And, there my son, skipped lightly in his sandal. He even joined a search to help a worrying guide who had two of his parties go off the trail in dense fog. They were located, and the guide thanked him.

Back in the private bus, people talked about how wet they were; their rain suit did not protect them, and so on. It was a bit funny. Sometimes being well equipped won’t help. Oh, I would not recommend hiking there in sandals though. If you are young, fit, and pay attention, maybe you can pull it off.