Divisions of the Elgin House

I can remember being on Youth Peace Travel Team a few years back and needing to come up with an interesting way to introduce ourselves to a new camp each week. We came up with something we called "The Divisions of Peace Team." We would take turns announcing an identifier among us then stepping forward to reveal who fit that category. We would go with some basics such as the guys, the girls, the blondes, the brunettes, etc. Then we would move on to some of the trickier ones such as who shaved their legs (one guy and one girl), who could knit or crochet (three of us), or number of piercings (because we all had at least one by the end of the summer).

The Divisions of the Elgin House similarly run surface level and much deeper. As we've been adjusting to living with each other and going through some of the honeymoon phase these first few months, we've slowly moved beyond the obvious similarities and uniquities and are beginning to find unknown common ground where we may not have expected it. Just today, Theresa found out that I know how to spot when spinning across the kitchen. I don't actually know how or where I learned it, but it's something we have in common. Laura and I both had our tonsils out when we were 18 (note to readers: 18 is pretty late in the game - cut those puppies out sooner if at all possible!). Hannah and I were the chief Christmas-light-putter-uppers when we were growing up. It feels like I find out something new Kristen and I have in common every 24 hours.

One division of the house that has come to light (literally) lately has been Christmas decorations and music. How early in the fall can you begin with Christmas? The sooner the better? Not until after Thanksgiving? Sometime in early December? This guy would prefer to fall more into the final category there but has been working with handbell music for a few weeks now and had to subject myself to it sooner than I normally would. Christmas lights went up outside the house a few weeks ago because the weather was amicable. However, they didn't get switched on regularly until after Thanksgiving. This week saw the box of Decorations from the Decades unpacked and spread throughout the house. Whoever left us the LED multi-colored lights, we love you to the moon and back!

We will surely find more divisions among ourselves in the months to come - some to strengthen our bond as a house, others to drive us up-the-wall and into our rooms. Regardless, these are the divisions that teach us to appreciate that which makes us different, endowed with a wide array of gifts we may never fully see for ourselves. Hopefully we'll have the fortitude to call them out for each other as we see them.

Thanks to Big Daddy D for the Christmas music playlist while I wrote this.