Form and Function: Looking Through The Mason Jar


My Dad was over for Easter. It is always a good time. I like hanging out with my Pops. He is a fount of wisdom and purveyor of stories. Like a walking and breathing book. Lessons of Life in condensed comments. Just add beer...

He noted, when we were out barbecuing on the back porch, that I really needed to cover the back porch light. The previous tenant somehow had broken the previous covering (I don't want to know how)--and for the last year and a half I have left the light, wires and all, uncovered. To bear the elements naked. Bare Bear, or, Bear Bare.

I was in denial of sorts. I knew I should do something for quite a while but my Dad had to be Captain Obvious and point it out. So, I went out to the local hardware store a couple of days later and was surprised to find that almost all of the items of this genre were the whole light apparatus, not just the glass enclosure for the light. I didn't want to mess with the electric wires and all. Neither did I wish to spend the $40 dollars or so for the whole shebang. So, I purchased a glass covering that looked like it could fit the bill. Alas, it was just a bit short and not able to be fastened.

Then, I considered a mason jar. I read recently read on Facebook that one of the signs of being a Hipster is drinking a beverage out of a mason jar. Eureka! A mason jar would probably be a perfect fit. So, I tried it out and  it was perfect. I sent this picture to Pops. As a former engineer, he commended my function over form. I had to tell him that mason jars are cool. Not bad for a junior high Industrial Arts class drop-out. I knew academics was my only chance to make it through the gauntlet or life. Or wash pots.

A lot of our problems in society are profligate and big. But, elementally, we can help our neighbor and our community. Find a need, like a covering for a light, and fill it. It really is not that complex or complicated. The light will shine through our mason jar.            

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