My Card today is the Four of Wands.. A lovely card of celebration, flowers, friends, Magic Wands, and Batons.  A firm foundation.  Strong family ties.  Ties that last, as the years go by.

Tomorrow, I’ll go home, to the “House that built me”  that enveloped me with love, that taught me to find divine inspiration from the Stars up above.

My home, sweet home, my Tara, My “Strength.”  I am always there emotionally, only separated by physical distance and length.
There’s no place like home, There’s no place like home.. if only I could get there by clicking my heels 3 times..

As a little girl, I transformed the living room into my theater.  My Mother brought in a piece of plywood that served as my stage. I played my sisters’ old albums and danced for hours each night.  The Living Room Mirror served as my audience and critic.  When I was 14, the carpet came out, mirrors and ballet barres went up.. the living room became “Jennifer Johnson School of Dance.”  For the next 17 years, my home was my Dance School..

My House that built me was the “foundation” for my Dance School, which grew to 200 students in number .

Before the Dance School, the house that built me served as my “Barbie Dream House”.  My Mother helped me turn her largest kitchen cabinet into a Doll House Divine.. a haven and showplace for those Barbie dolls of mine.  Carpet Samples made their den stylish and plush.. I cut out pictures from my Mother’s McCall’s Magazine for wall decor.. and used various “finds” for furniture and embellishments to make the house truly my own.

As a little girl on Morris Circle, the Street of the “House that built me”.. I would dress up in costumes, made from towels and rags, ice cream containers were head pieces.. I even used grocery bags!  All of these happenings, incantations of my imagination, led me to my beautiful “Enchanted, and sometimes Haunted Mansion”.  I now have my own Doll house.. I sometimes feel like a Barbie doll in my own dream house.  Vintage lace dresses dance in the windows, they masquerade as Curtains.. my own unique invention.

In the Attic rooms dolls come alive in the night.  They tap dance and piourette until the dawn’s revealing light.  My Tarot cards come out of their boxes at the Grandfather clock’s stroke of 3:00 (a.m.)  they host seances and divine and they even “Ouija” (Wee-JEE).

Lady Gaga sings we were “born this way”.. and I agree with her completely and I also will say.. My Mother’s loving guidance, her own creativity and grace , led me to grow, and brought me to this enchanted place.  The House that “Built me” was built with a foundation as strong as any cement.. the ingredients were imagination, inspiration, encouragement and praise.  Pour in some constructive criticism.. old sayings and wives’ tails and the occasional euphamism.  My House of Cards is now held together with a paste made from the past.. my memories and lessons from the House that Built me.. will , in my House of Cards.. last and last.. a beautiful blend of my Present and Past.

Love,

Jennifer “SwampWitch” The House that Built me, Miranda Lambert