emotion tabled

[alenxa_classic]

The rest of my family is sifting through my grandparents' house, figuring out what to do with all the stuff. Considering that they've been using the house as a repository for all the stuff that won't fit in their various places, this is, to say the least, an interesting activity. When it became obvious that this was the way things were going to go, I took stock of what was there and put in for the kitchen table and chairs, the wrought-iron vanity chair, and possibly a sewing machine. Everything else was either too ruffle-fussy or too big for an apartment.

A year after this verbal division of the estate, my parents brought over the table set yesterday. With the flowery blue seatcushions still tied on. So far Kelson's not complaining; they're easier on the behind than the folding chairs we've been sitting on for 4 years. The chairs are also wider than we're used to, necessitating the use of the extra leaf in the table to fit all six around it. I'm really in favor of putting two of them in storage and shrinking the table some, but I'm not sure the chairs will fit in the storage closet.

Last night I was reheating dinner and smelled something different that wasn't the food. It reminded me of my grandparents' house.....I went over to the table and sniffed the air. Yup, that was it. I stuck my nose against the tabletop and just breathed for a minute. It was like being back in their kitchen, doing the crossword over breakfast or grabbing an afterschool snack, or helping make Thanksgiving dinner. There are long scratches in the wood that make me wonder if I made them with a 0.5 pencil or a compass, or if someone skidded the coupon scissors across the surface. It feels as though if I look hard enough, I might find someone's sneaker treads printed on a chair leg.

And to think that when I asked for it I was only thinking of having furniture.....

Comments

[mycroftca.livejournal.com]

Bravo.

When my grandmother died, my sister got most of her stuff, and uses it still, but all I got was a toaster oven, which has long since failed. It did not evoke the olfactory sensations you mention above, but I wish it had...

[alenxa.livejournal.com]

Oh, I don't want to know what'll happen the first time I toast a cinnamon-raisin English muffin while brewing coffee (http://www.livejournal.com/users/alenxa/11219.html) near this table. Probably see spirits walking the earth or something like that, especially if kelson walks by whistling through his teeth. I'll definitely owe a coffee-with-real-sugar libation at that point, and calories be damned.

[mycroftca.livejournal.com]

Indeed. Truly. And love will make the world go round.