The Oval

We have learned that buying paintings is the easy part. Neesha gave me a signed copy of Greg Olsen's A Prayer for Peace for Christmas. It is one of his least well-known pieces, and is a departure from his typical motif. It is also one of my favorites and I'm grateful to Neesha for it. Having acquired the painting, a process that in itself took multiple years, the real challenge emerged, however, as finding a place to hang a new picture in a fully-furnished home.

We settled on hanging it in our family room in a place previously occupied by a quote from Nelson Mandela, which Liz had put into an oval frame and mat for us. It was a prominent place for the picture, which suited me, and it filled the space well, which pleased Neesha. Satisfied, we hung the picture, relegated the former occupant to a dark corner of a dark closet, and all was well.

The Boy woke up from his nap one hour later. The two of us were playing on the floor of the family room when he looked up at Daddy's new painting, cocked his head to one side, then turned to me and asked, "Ovoh?" Now, in my defense, he is only twenty-one months and a lot of his words sound alike; I reached over, picked up him up, and spun him up-side-down by his ankles, thus turning him "over." He patiently let me know I got that one wrong.

Right-side-up with the normal amount of blood in his head again, he guided me over to the wall. There he explained that, while I may like the new painting, he preferred the old one and would I please put it back up, thank you very much. Not in so many words, perhaps, but that is what I understand from, "Ovoh. Ba up. Wie hewe. Wah" ("Oval. Back up. Right here. Wall." I find it remarkable how much meaning kids can put into so few mispronounced words).

I took him upstairs, showed him the oval frame, and explained that we would put it back up at some point, but for right now it was going to stay in the closet. I then went down to the kitchen to tell Neesha the situation and how I had resolved it as only a dad could. When I walked back into the family room, The Boy was standing on the couch with the Nelson Mandela quote in hand, trying his best to hang it on the wall. This isn't as delicate a process as you might imagine.

Neesha made some comment that doesn't bear repeating about how dads resolve things, then asked The Boy if he would like to help Daddy hang the picture in his room. So, together, The Boy and I found a stud over his dresser and hung the picture across from his crib. I'm pretty sure I missed the stud, but I did make my son happy.

Once I had thought I would hang The Oval, as it is now known, in my office. I'm thinking The Boy's room suits it much better, now.

mw