Meet Fred

Dave has wanted a Terracotta Warrior for a long time. Every now and then we'd see some in a museum, or while traveling, and he'd look long and hard at them. And although we've have the perfect spot for one since we moved into this house seven years ago, the spot has sat empty, just waiting.

After many moons Dave gave in and ordered a reproduction from China. (Real ones are antiquities.) It arrived by sea to the Port of Oakland in a crate. The crate and its pallet were then forklifted into my Dad's truck and the two of them brought it here. It took the two of them plus a neighbor to unload and uncrate it.

And that's how Fred came to live with us.

Fred sat in the stairwell nook for a few weeks and the kids took turns dressing him up. Cheerleader Fred. Golf Fred. Chef Fred. The problem was, Fred was the same color as the wall behind him and unless he was all gussied up, he blended right in. This hardly seemed fair for something so important to Dave.

So last weekend Fred temporarily moved into the foyer and I painted the wall behind him red. It's the same red as our office, down the hall. He looks gooooood!

P/S If I come downstairs in the middle of the night for a snack or to get a cup of water for one of the kids, he freaks me out.