The Light is Everything

Still, what I want in my life, 

is to be willing 

to be dazzled-

to cast aside the weight of facts

and maybe even 

to float a little 

above this difficult world.

I want to believe I am looking

into the white fire of a great mystery.

I want to believe that the imperfections-

are nothing

that the light is everything.

Mary Oliver 

It looks like my dad is not going to make it to the barn after all.  He passed away yesterday afternoon, November 22nd, 2017.  The timing couldn’t be more Ironic. The move-in date was set for this Saturday, November 26th.  

He gave me this chandelier over 30 years ago. He got it from a mansion on Lake Erie, near Buffalo, New York. He was rewiring and updating the electric there. The owners gave my dad all the old silver fixtures from Sheffield, England. They didn’t want them anymore. I especially loved the fixtures. 

My dad was an electrician and owned his own company - the Klima Electric Corporation - for more than half a century. He was such a devoted hardworking man. 

When I bought my first house in Buffalo in 1990 he rewired the fixture and hung it in my dining room. In fact, he did so much renovating on that house. It was stunning. It was his fierce commitment to help me out. He was like that.

He also hand cut and hung hundreds of gingerbread shingles on the top of that old Victorian house. The original ones we found under some ugly asphalt shingles were rotted and we could not find exact replacements. So he traced and hand cut hundreds of wooden shingles. 

I brought the chandelier with me when I moved to Vermont in 1994. I have been waiting many years for just the right place.  This fixture has a new home now - it is hanging in the barn apartment. It was installed today. 

It is always going to remind me of my dad. 

It is always going to make me feel happy. 

It will always symbolize my dads generosity and love and light. 

It is so right that it’s there. 

It might be lights out for you, Dad, but I know you will keep shining on us.  

You really did show us that the light is everything.

I am so going to miss you.