Origami tableaus

If you’ve known me long enough, you probably know that I love to make origami. I’m not sure when my interest in folding paper into intricate shapes started, but it’s a hobby I’ve carried with me for years. Birthday cards for friends often come with an origami creations, and I’ve decorated more than one desk with various folded animals. Most recently, I’ve taken advantage of the wide front windowsill in my house to display my origami. It started with a reindeer, made in honor of Christmas. But it has quickly expanded to include a lion, a bear, a butterfly, a crane, and several other creatures.

If you’ve lived in the Netherlands for any length of time, you quickly realize that front windows are a bit of a display case. In a country where everything is tightly packed together, the front window often sits right next to the sidewalk, offering a glimpse into people’s personal style. Some feature perfectly curated, color-coordinated vases and candles. Others are chaotic jungles of plants. Still others contain a mishmash of tchotchkes. But my personal favorite remains the front windows that are decorated with LEGO creations or crayon drawings, a sure sign that a child lives there.

This child-like desire to place one’s latest creations in the front window inspired my decision to display my origami. But it wasn’t until I came home one day and my roommate told me a little boy had stood outside our window and admired my origami collection (conveniently placed at a child’s eye level) for a solid minute before moving on that the next phase began. After this, I decided that rather than simply displaying the origami, I would use our wide windowsill as a stage and send my origami creatures on an adventure. As a result, for the past week, a blue rabbit and yellow duck have been slowly making a pilgrimage across the sill, picking up a white cat on their journey. Yesterday, they arrived at the far side where they finally met a green turtle. What will happen to them next? Only time will tell.

If I’m being realistic, it’s unlikely that the average passerby has noticed my origami tableaus. However, it has brought joy to both myself and my roommate. And today, when a mother with two kids stopped outside my window to admire the origami animals, I was delighted. Even if they don’t appreciate the story I’m creating with my window origami, it made them smile…and brought me a few nose-prints on my window from the enthusiastic kids.