HENRY PHILIPPE LOUSTAU

Continued from "House With A Good View Text"...

This presents me with an interesting dilemma. How do I seek comfort and adventure at the same time? I think this is a universal question. It’s also distinctively “American”. The two themes exist at cross-purposes, and many of us struggle with our own version of this situation. Who doesn’t enjoy retreating to a comfortable abode at the end of a long day...with close friends, a good meal, and the knowledge that we are safe and the bills are paid? Just about everyone I know has first-hand recollections of an ancestor who traveled to the Americas to try something new. Some of these ancestors were traveling involuntarily. Others individuals were driven by a wide range of weighty motives. All faced uncertainty, danger, and adventure. Sometimes even the little tasks of going to work or the mall feel like the equivalent of sailing with Christopher Columbus. It all counts. Adventure comes in many guises. So does comfort.

I suspect these images will resonate more with viewers who appreciate “Powder Milk Biscuits” than with viewers who subscribe to fashionable clubs, magazines, and lifestyles. These images are small and too familiar. Sometimes we mistake the familiar with the insignificant. When all is said and done, a little peace of mind within this vast adventure is what most of us hoped for in the first place.

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