PINEAPPLE HOUSE

Finding a pineapple beside a Forest road was surprising enough. Finding one with a front door took a little longer to accept. Rad Rux had built a whole house around the idea, with chunky orange walls, round porthole windows and a green crown that makes it easy to recognize from a distance.

A scrap-built SpongeBob stands nearby, so there is no mistaking where Rux got his inspiration. The blue door and the pipe sticking out of the wall bring that old cartoon home into our rougher world. It is cheerful work made with the same battered materials the rest of us use for sheds.

I remember when a familiar cartoon could brighten a long afternoon before the war. There is nothing wrong with keeping a little of that good humor alive. Rux has given this stretch of road something folks can smile at, and I reckon that counts for more than another plain box with a roof.