Today's fortune: July 2, 2011

Today's fortune: Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.

At noon today, we passed the halfway point of the year, and hence the halfway point of this project. I know some faithful readers have been following along from the very beginning, and to you I give my eternal thanks. I hope you keep reading a while longer.

Not everyone would see the beauty in a small stack of paper strips. But after 183 days of this project, I know I sure do.

The camera angle makes the pile of fortunes look larger than it really is, but in reality the pile is about the size of a McDonald's hamburger patty. And I'm not talking about a Quarter Pounder - just the regular single burger. Not the whole burger, mind you, just the patty.


And it probably tastes about the same, too.


When I read this fortune this morning, the first thing that came to mind was our carpet. When we moved into this house over three years ago the carpet looked nice and new and perfect. But before long, we realized that although the carpet installed prior to the sale was in fact new, it was really, really cheap.

The carpet started to fray and shed. It became matted. And it showed every spot, stain and blemish, especially the hair from our furry black cat. Eventually it started to resemble casino carpet.

But not in a good way.

The bottom line is, our carpet is ugly. And we don't have enough money to replace it right now.

But here's the thing: our ugly carpet is also beautiful.

Our ugly carpet keeps our feet warm when we walk barefoot through the living room.

Our ugly carpet is a favorite nap spot for our cats, especially when they can lay in the sun pouring through a window.

Our ugly carpet can look really nice when we take the time to vacuum and shampoo it.

Our ugly carpet makes this house a home.

Later today we will leave our ugly carpet behind and head off to my brother's house to celebrate Independence Day a couple days early. I'll continue to look for beauty in places nobody else sees. It will be a challenge, though, because I'll be spending the day with my wife, and everybody sees her beauty.