Happy to be there

There’s a simple metal sculpture that speaks to me these days.

It was made by my neighbor, Steve Banks, who is not a sculptor. He fills his workday with utilitarian, practical welding.

Standing way out in an empty field behind his house is a giant metal person he created; a small body on impossibly long legs, one leg stretched to the side, head tilted back, hands raised. It is dancing.

It’s a good spot to dance in the good weather. There’s a long view down the valley, and rolling hills on either side.

Even when the winter winds howl, that dancer is still there, joyful, graceful.

I could say defiant, but it never feels defiant to me. It is simply happy to be there, where it is.

That’s an attitude I can admire.

Read more installments of Village Voices by Susan Barnett.