Monday, October 5, 2015

Playing with Legos

One of the things I did this weekend was play with toys.  Specifically Legos. 

Here's the before picture.  I started out on the kitchen table, but it just didn't feel right.  You have to play with Legos on the carpet. 





Here's the after pictures. 




This was my first Lego set since the Black Seas Barracuda, Christmas 1989 (which I also put together in one day, much to the surprise of my parents who were hoping my big Christmas gift would take at least a few days to assemble).  A Lego set is an odd purchase for one's self as a grown up, but come on, it's WALL-E, the main character from my very favorite Pixar movie!   

This Lego Idea set was proposed in Fall 2013 and entered consideration for production officially by Lego in July 2014.  My Dad saw an article about it and for my birthday in August 2014, he sent me a card with a print out of the WALL-E Lego set and a promise to get it for me when it was released. 

Let's pause here and let me ‘splain about last year … No, there is too much. Let me sum up.  I had what I call a very grown up year--in the span of 12 months I got engaged, got married, my father passed away, had my first not fun medical screenings because of family history of cancers, and had my wisdom teeth removed.  If I'm not an adult now, I never will be. 

This past Sunday, October 4, I sprawled out in the spare room and played with Legos.  And for 5+ hours the visceral enjoyment of building and the nostalgia of childhood and the mourning of my Dad played in me. 

My Dad would be 64 this Saturday, October 10.  Last Fall, the night I first I tried on wedding dresses ended up being the day before I unexpectedly and frantically flew out to Massachusetts to see Dad for the last time. 

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this.  I wanted to post about this cool Lego set, but I couldn't leave out the important element that my Dad said he'd get it for me.  I could wax eloquent about how it's amazing what you can build with all the diverse pieces, some fun, some grown up, some painful. 

And you know what, Lego sets have way more pieces these days.  I don't mean number, I mean diversity.  My husband said I was doing it wrong, when I started working on putting together WALL-E.  He use to dump all the piece out in the box, then rifle around through all of them looking for the next piece he needed.  I think he's wrong--I've always laid them out, classified by width and length, whether it was a full height or a third height piece.  But the pieces are way more complicated now.  They don't fit my old classification system.  I use to be able to look at the box and have a good idea how to built it.  But not a chance with WALL-E, you're building sideways and with layers and with really weird pieces.   Way too complex for me to visualize. 

So, there's another metaphor.  I may think I understand how things work, how life may be structured.  But really, there are pieces you wouldn't even think of, that fit together in surprising, non-standard ways. 

But I think the point I'm getting at is that I played with Legos this weekend and remembered my Dad.  And it was sad and fun all mixed together.