Children often play a game with clouds and try to identify various figures or people as the clouds float throught the sky.

The tile on our bathroom floor works much the same way as the clouds on a summer's day. It opens and challenges the imagination.

We had the pleasure of selecting the bathroom tile when we remodeled a few years ago. Little did we know at the time how much additional mental stimulation would be created while sitting and waiting and thinking.

The tile is arranged in small squares of about six inches per side. The design repeats every six tiles, so the number of tiles capable of inciting an imaginative view is limited. The imagination is not.

When viewing the tiles I've noticed that time of day is a factor. The light across the tiles in the morning is different than in the afternoon and both are different when the bathroom lights are turned on. Shadows play a part, too, and pull identifying characteristics from each tile.

When viewing clouds as a child, we would see angels, or pirates, or elephants, or cats, or old men with beards. Seldom would a cloud show sufficient detail as to be identified as a specific person.

Tile has the ability to transform itself into a person who can be recognized, identified as a relative, or a friend. One tile near the corner of the door looks like a cat our family had when I was in middle school. Another looks like my father.

Yet another reminds me of a long lost girlfriend. Identifying people, specific people, in a tile on the floor takes a healthy dose of imagination.

Is it any wonder that some people claim to see the image of Jesus in a potator chip?