Spring’s here at last, so it seems fitting to observe the vernal equinox by welcoming a warrior. For indeed, this newly arrived season is a weather warrior banishing hibernal doldrums and awakening our wintry world. A spirit warrior restoring our optimism and confidence. A social warrior beckoning us out of hibernation and encouraging us to reacquaint ourselves with laughter and stories. And, remembering March 20, 2009, 16 years ago today, we celebrate springtime by welcoming a warrior — a terracotta warrior from Xian, China — to Rosslyn.
A couple of months after we moved into Rosslyn (at once a premature move-in given the still lingering punch lists and a long overdue move-in given our many missed deadlines for completion of our historic rehabilitation) we were ready to transport this life sized artifact from storage where it had languished far too long and to install it in our newly completed living room.
We enlisted three much muscled warriors to help out with this delicate delivery: Doug Decker, Jacob Sawitski, and Mike Manzer. The mysterious crate roughly the size of a refrigerator had been the subject of questions over the years. At last, these three would discover what was inside.
From storage to trailer, trailer to newly completed deck, deck to sunporch, and sunporch to living room, this ungainly wooden shipping container was slowly and painstakingly negotiated each inch of the way. For the contents were fragile, and they needed to be kept upright at all times. No bumps. No drops.
After a careful unboxing, they much wrapped mystery remained. Many ideas. Much laughter. And a couple years worth of anticipation about to end.
Despite Susan and my elation that the Xian warrior had persevered unscathed, Doug, Mike, and Jacob were slightly less enthusiastic. I’m not sure what they were hoping to find inside the container, but it certainly wasn’t a life sized, terracotta man with an unusual hairdo and uniform. Somewhat nonplussed they were.
And Griffin too. Our labrador retriever, took several weeks to adjust. His counterpoint to our warmly welcoming a warrior so long envisioned presiding over Rosslyn’s living room was ferocious and unremitting. He would bark for minutes at a time, hair raised high, protecting his domain. But the warrior stood his ground.
When, after weeks, Griffin began to accept the ungainly guest, I altered the angle of the movable head. Just a little. To see if he would notice. He always did. 
What do you think?