My porches are my tranquilizers.
After a day at work, and three hours running errands afterward, sitting on my porches calms me down.
The insides of my porches don't look quite this orderly anymore. No, There are more wicker chairs and tables.
What was I thinking? In 2005 I ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, snarfing up wicker before someone else bought it. Here's a word of advice. . . Don't do it.
Those antique dealers in High Springs had me pegged. They could tell it in my eyes, "This lady will pay anything for this crappy old piece of wicker."
And I did.
Why?
Because if you're running around like a chicken with its head cut off, looking for wicker, you may very well buy pieces of wicker you wish you'd never seen before? Just to buy it.
Oh, I am a romantic. I had to have wicker. The older the better. I bought a really neat fragile rocking chair that some mama in the 1700's, early 1900's must have rocked her precious southern children in. They probably had names like Standis Collin Swarthworth or Camilla Regina Bellamy. But after sitting in it a few times, I gave up and gave it to Clay.
The point is, if you buy wicker, buy it new because the older wicker (painted white) sheds white flakes all on your beautiful porches. Which brings me back to my porches.
This afternoon I came home from work and three hours of running errands, and my porches had been recleaned, professionally.
They were so shiny that I could almost see my reflection in the wood.
So within a half hour or so, Truett and I began putting all that wicker back down to the floor from a fouton. . .when CRASH!
A tall floor lamp flipped to the floor, sending shards of glass everywhere!
No problem. Sweeping up a floor with glass all over it is NOTHING compared to teaching a fourth grader how to write a decent essay.
So I called my ready-available handyman, Clay, to help me, knowing it would cost me $5.00. But it was worth it in the end. All the furniture is in place. The glass is swept up, and the porch is ready to sit on once again.
Which is exactly what I did to calm myself down after a long day at work . . . and running errands.
Yes, I sat out there on the front porch and listened to the rain steadily coming down. I watched the oak and cherry tree branches bend and swirl during this rain that we're having. I composed my thoughts and let go of needless bits of brain trash and headed to my computer.
And it calmed me down.
Good-night.
Those chairs look lonely. Can't wait to sit in them with you!
Posted by: tina | October 28, 2009 at 07:38 PM