June 11 Photo: Door

A door is a pretty utilitarian kind of thing. It’s meant to keep out burglars, insects, snow, and neighborhood cats. It’s meant to keep in heat, small children, and non-neighborhood cats. It is often adorned with wreaths or flags or a brass knocker or a stained glass window. Some doors have no windows, some have large windows, and some are nearly all glass. Some doors lead from one room to another, some lead from outside to inside, and some lead to cubbies or closets or crawl spaces.

In books and movies, doors can lead to magical or foreign or even dangerous places and worlds. In the book “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” a door leads to another world called Narnia. In the book “The Indian in the Cupboard,” a door leads to the home of a tiny, living person. In the movie, “Poltergeist,” a door leads to the evil afterlife. In the television show, “SG-1,” a door leads to other planets. In the movie, “Monsters, Inc.,” a door leads to a factory where nightmares are made. Human beings are fascinated with doors and the idea that they can be portals out of our world.

But the best part of the reality of doors is often that they lead, not to someplace unfamiliar, but to someplace familiar, known, and comforting. For example, what is a more pleasant sight than your own front door after a time away from home?

This is my front door. It’s pretty, but it’s also pretty ordinary. It’s a bright, cheerful shade of green, and has lace curtains in the window panels on each side. There’s a welcoming mat on the step in front and an American flag hanging above. Sometimes there’s a holiday wreath or other decoration hanging on it. But basically, it’s just a door. And that doesn’t stop it from being an incredibly welcome sight when I come home. Because it’s my door, and it’s the portal to my home, and that’s better than any other world I can imagine going into.