Leading Lines

Thank you to everyone who remembered that yesterday was my 4,000th entry, even though I didn't! I have said it before, but I don't mind repeating how much Blipfoto means to me. It started out as a lark, something Lady Findhorn talked me into, something I didn't think would ever last all this time. It started out as an experiment, but turned out to be so much more...the journal I was never able to keep, the friendships with people all over the world and most of all, the remarkable community that make up Blipfoto. Thank you for your kindness, your friendship, for sharing your lives and allowing me to share mine. Thank you also to the dedicated people who keep this site up and running. Nobody ever understands how special it is until they try it! I will be thanking everybody personally, but it may take me awhile.

On today's topic, 'leading lines' nothing says it as well as a handrail on porch steps. When we lived in Berkeley, there was no handrail on our porch steps, and we joked for years that we would finally be forced to put one in when we needed it ourselves. In the end, it wasn't our need for a handrail but the fact that the porch itself that collapsed,  requiring us to build a new one with a handrail. I'd always hated the old porch which didn't seem very welcoming.

We moved just a few years later and somehow managed to buy another house without a handrail for the front steps. It wasn't until a friend, who had very bad knees staggered up the front steps, nearly falling into my arms that we determined that we had to install a handrail. We had this one fabricated for simplicity and sturdiness. Now I am the one who requires a handrail, giving me a new appreciation for them as little lifelines leading up to the front door.