There's an art to not taking life for granted

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

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I was wandering through the Smithsonian the other day, taking in the world of Grant Wood, the painter who gave us American Gothic, the iconic portrait of an Iowa man and woman in front of their farmhouse, pitchfork in his hand.

The exhibit, which is on display at the American Art Museum's Renwick Gallery in Washington until July 16, succeeds in everything a Sunday afternoon at a museum is supposed to do. Inform. Amuse. Surprise.

I was walking from room to room, learning about Wood's healthy sense of humor -- don't miss his painting of the Daughters of the American Revolution matrons -- when one of his quotes leapt off the wall:

"Gradually, as I searched, I began to realize that there was real decoration in the rickrack braid on the aprons of the farmers' wives, in calico patterns and in the lace curtains. ... To my great joy, I discovered that in the very commonplace, in my native surroundings, were decorative adventures and that my only difficulty had been in taking them too much for granted."

I was happy to see that a painter whose eye captured the spirit of America's heartland in the '20s and '30s also fell victim to what we all suffer: taking too much for granted.

How many times have we not seen the forest for the trees, not paid attention to the details around us -- the little details that often make all the difference in our daily life?

I was giving a tour of our Georgetown neighborhood the other day, pointing out architectural details -- plus the party house where JFK celebrated his inauguration long after Jackie had returned to the White House -- when I noticed a window I'd never seen before. A little Palladian window tucked up under the rafters.

And that is after 16 years of walking dogs on the very same street. How had I missed it all those years?

Wood is on to something, of course. We don't see what's right in front of us. Good stuff, too. We're blinded by the daily routine, not quite appreciating what we have.

At lunch the other day, a group of us were talking about a former colleague, Cathy Hainer, an exceptional young woman who eloquently wrote about her losing battle with breast cancer in these pages.

We talked about how odd it is now to think that she used to sit among us, dressed in plaid kilt skirts and cashmere sweaters, laughing on the phone with an old college friend by the name of Jon Stewart.

We didn't have a clue back then who Jon Stewart was or that he would one day become a household name. But we did assume Cathy would be there forever. Never crossed our mind she wouldn't.

We just took her for granted, one of my lunchmates said.

But as Grant Wood discovered, it doesn't have to be that way. He had his epiphany. We can, too. We can stop, if not to smell the roses, at least long enough to see them. As Wood says, there can be adventures in the very commonplace.

It might be the quiet surprise of a Palladian window discovered on a walk. Or a newfound appreciation for a colleague, chuckling on the phone.

E-mail cwilson@usatoday.com

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