H-O-M-E

Since May I’ve been living with my parents for the first time in five years. I had been residing in San Antonio–the city where my girlfriend lives, dwells, works and prospers. It’s a city that offers me little in terms of personal satisfaction. Well, I think that perhaps that statement is prematurely delivered–for I don’t believe that I have given myself enough of a chance to find my niche there. I made my home in the Northwestern part of the city–right next to Sea World. And I had many hellish experiences with crazy roommates and landlords. I believe I have detailed them quite well in a previous blog. At any rate, I came in wanting to hate the city–and moved out hating it twice as much. There are no hawt gays there! It’s a lot of hot weather, mesquite trees, scary ass lizards, rocks, and mexican food.

But, here I am today–September 16 and I’m still living at my parent’s house–the house I grew up in. That is FIVE months that I’ve been here. How disgusting. I’m in the process of moving out. However, I wanted to capture a few of the interesting parts of the interior decor here. I’ve always appreciated my mother’s aesthetic. And I hope that I did a good job of conveying that which is so important to us as a family.

There is a recurring theme of travel and globes in our home.

In the bottom left hand corner of the top shelf is my mom’s grandmother. We also have the Coca Cola Santa on display–that sat in my kitchen on the wall every Holiday Season throughout my youth. I suppose we are Coke aficionados. The Las Vegas item is special for several reasons–A) That was the picture on my sister’s wedding invitation. B) That actual tin is a canister of mints that was a gift to guests at their Vegas wedding last September. My family is super in to gambling and Vegas in particular–hence the dice-a-plenty. On the top shelf: a replica of a 1951 Ford that my mom’s family drove as a kid–and that car sat in our garage for 23 years until we finally had it towed away this year. FINALLY. There is a Nixon political button. My mom is a collector of political buttons and such. I had a Nixon thing growing up. I found him absolutely fascinating as a human being. And this button graced my backpack and my guitar strap throughout my high school years. There is also a book on “Spindletop,” which was a salt dome oil field in Beaumont, Texas. My relative, Trost, took the famous photo of it erupting. The two pictures next to each other: One is of my grandpa and grandmama. One of the happier moments. He had an affair and left her. But, there were happy times! I never met him. And the photo on the left is of the “Screendoor Jesus” in my mom’s home town of Port Neches, Texas.

Taken from Roadside America’s website: This dates back to the late ’60s or early ’70s. I grew up in nearby Beaumont, Texas, and recall a period of time when a certain screen door on a house in Port Neches made big local news over the course of a week or even more. It seems that one morning a woman stepped outside to tend her flowers and saw the visage of Jesus on her rusted back screen door. She told a neighbor, who saw it too, and by the end of the day, folks from all around were making a bee-line to see the door. TV stations carried live reports and it was all anyone in my elementary school could talk about. Of course, no one I knew actually went to see the door for themselves, and all I remember is that the story just went away. I moved away years later, but still wonder if Port Neches’s Screen Door Jesus is still there. (It’s totally not and hasn’t been since the ’80’s)

[RA: It seems that when this miracle happened in the 1960s, crowds grew so huge that the owner had to remove the door and hide it.]

The Paradox Smoke Business Card came from the dude’s that backed the film version of the Screendoor Jesus incident. And no–you shouldn’t have heard of it.

My grandmama always had a big ole’ glass jar of buttons at her house that I would gravitate towards the moment I walked into the door. I was young–she died when I was 5. My interests were limited to: A) the swingset which I fell off of and lost my front teeth playing on. B) getting my older sister to push me down the hill on the wheelchair. C) the big Conch shell in her bathroom where I could “hear the ocean.” D) her collection of wooden tops. and E) the buttons! It was FULL of buttons and they were all sizes, shapes and colors. I remember my favorite was a candy cane one. This little cup/vase has some of those buttons in it.

I was sitting in my living room today and came to the conclusion that the majority of art on the walls was all created by family members. We have a talented crop of people in the Smith/Schuh family. We have photographers and artists. I tried to take a picture of the actual art pieces done by my Great Aunt Margaret and my Grandma Smith.  When my grandma died when I was a senior in high school–I was very adamant about obtaining a few of her pieces that I was most attached to: the dogs and the ship.  It’s all I asked for.  And all I need to remember her by.

Here are the four pictures that have hung side-by-side in the hallway of our home since I can remember. One of each of us.

My dad was a huge Roy Rogers/Hop-Along-Cassidy fan as a kid. Cowboys and Indians! This is a shadow box that is my mom’s nod to that. We also have his little gun and holster on display–along with his little toy tomahawk!

And this is just a cool ass clock that’s been around. I don’t think it’s ever worked.

One of my all time favorite beautiful illustrations.