Creativity in a Barrel

The chief enemy of creativity is good sense.

Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist (1881-1973)

On today's road trip in search of the perfect sofa (a successful one, I should add), Mom and I admired people's creativity with their flower potting. First we spotted a bright yellow bicycle in the midst of green shrubbery with a sunny bouquet standing tall in its basket. A few miles along, scarlet begonias overflowed from an old wheelbarrow. Later, stopping at a roadside diner for lunch, we found a very creative way to recycle old wringer-washing machines as planters. Who would have thought!

It was a cheery sight made all the more joyful because I can remember "helping" my mom with the laundry beside a similar machine when I could only just peek over the top of the barrel at the swishing, sudsy water. My job was to "catch" the clothes as they descended from the wringer and to make sure that they landed in the laundry basket rather than on the floor. I probably only "helped" once or twice, but those times are inscribed among the leaves of my memory.