Saturday, October 1, 2011

A Contemplation of Home: Tulsa Writer Considers Meanings and Memories

James Watts is an arts writer for the Tulsa World. As such, he reviews classical music, museum exhibits, art shows and other cultural events for the newspaper. (Yes, wise guys, Tulsa does a serious art and music scene.)

Watts also writes personal columns every now and again. One column, published several weeks ago, struck us as particularly evocative. The column was a rumination on the meaning of home, which in this case was his wife's parent's home near 21st Street and Yale.

When it came time to clean out the house after they died, the task seemed overwhelming, Watts writes. 

The couple had lived in the house for 50-plus years, collecting (as we all do) "everyday objects, family heirlooms, geegaws that no one could quite figure out their purpose or their worth….."

Watts also writes of his own parents, their many homes and and their late-life adventures. Is home a building, Watts wonders, or is it something more?

Maybe it's just us, but we were moved by Watts' thoughtful prose—something that doesn't happen with every newspaper column.

Read Watts for yourself. The link is here.

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