Your Door

While we were in Albuquerque in August, we visited Las Golondrinas. Las Golondrinas is celebrating it's 300th anniversary this year. It was a stopping place on the El Camino Real, or the Royal Road to Mexico City.

This door is close to 300 years old and it is beautiful! When I saw it, I thought, "Wow! That is a beautiful door!" The intricate carving, the gorgeous wood. I would love to have a front door like this on my home.

I found a good quote about front doors: The front door is an expression of the personality of the owners of the home.

On our street, there are different kinds of front doors. Most are wooden -- some are nicely varnished and kept clean, others are weathered-looking because of the sun, and others have glass that allow you to see into the soul of the house.

In China, a red door is the same as a welcome mat. It symbolizes luck. In early America, travelers would look for a red door as a sign of welcome and safety. In Scotland, people painted their doors red to indicate they had paid off a mortgage!

In the Indian culture, a door was painted blue to ward off bad spirits. Chinese Fung Shui uses blue for those homes who want to send off a calm, soothing and prosperous feel.

Green represents people who are carefree and enjoy life. In China, a green door symbolizes the life cycle and growth.

If your door faces northeast, northwest or southwest, Fung Shui recommends painting it yellow to channel positive energy.

I have become enamored with doors. One of the new trends in photography is taking a family's picture in front of an old, weathered door. I really like the weathered, distressed ones the best. The stories they could tell if they could only talk. Whose hands had touched them? What weather had beat on them? They have lots of character as my dad would say.

Doors are a lot like our hearts...we can put a lock on our heart to protect ourselves; we can open it up and invite others to come in; we can have a joyful heart or a sad heart and our faces will reveal what "color" our door is.

I hope that when I am old, my "door" will be weathered with all of life's good stuff. I want a little bit of every color on it. I want it to be weathered by all the hands who have touched my life. I want it to be strong and still operable! I want my personality to be apparent. I want those who look at it to say, "Wow! That is a beautiful door!"