The House-Clip Part I

I was just about to start typing a post declaring the end of the paper clip as such – we are more of a stapler generation – when I found a clip right in front of the door to my room. And don’t worry, I am certain it’s not one I’ve written about before, because I usually don’t pick them up unless I need one. The paper clip in my house gives me a fantastic opportunity to talk about this curious place. As of the moment when I moved in here, my housemates and I (or at least those talking) were absolutely certain this house is alive. It has become a kind of organic entity, acculturated to the soil it stands on. Ivy is growing up the walls, the windows, into the kitchen. Green moss and mold lives on the shower window and under the lacquer of the bathroom door and one time, we were in the uncomfortable situation to witness the decay – nay, composting of the cellar. As of lately, when water and mold have transformed one of the walls in my room into a yellow/blackish eye-catcher, I decided to buy pretty plants in pots to distract our views from it. Needless to say, organic entities, especially those with mechanic heating systems, attract not only plants but also animals. When I found the first silver fish under my bed and took a picture of it, I was astonished by its anatomical distinctness. It was the first such critter I’ve ever seen. Only later I learned that these animals aren’t usually as big that one could photograph it without a macro lens. Also, mouse traps have become an item of interior design in our kitchen, hallways and even rooms. We share pasta packages and flour with them, and pretend we don’t notice. One time, we thought we might have trapped one in the oven (by accident, of course), but then we hadn’t. The organic trash can has become the mice’s breeding or family vacation spot, or maybe they discovered it as transportation to paradise.

However, all these things we’ve come to terms with, we’ve fought it, we’ve yielded, we’re sort of cool with it (except that wall in my room). Once, we gave names to the mice, but I forgot what they were. We buried our dead gold fish in the back yard, as if to give back something to the soil. Our house is as fragile yet indestructible as the annoying wild mulberry plant in the yard. All this wasn’t even the point why I started thinking about our house in the first place. But I’ll save that for next time.