The other night my husband and I both had house dreams. The common theme was the sheer joy of owning/buying and excessively large house. Heh. In his, he had the fun of having to choose which of 5 rooms or so to have as his study/den. Mine was more about the buying aspect, so therefore more stressful, involving stumbling upon an incredibly priced house and the stressful negotiations that ensued. It was on the beach, and I remember being concerned about water in the basement. But the space! Three floors of rooms after rooms after rooms. And a nice kitchen, if I recall.
This clearly reflects our recent activities. This weekend we did some rearranging and moved the guest room into the computer room. Now the guests get to listen to the hum of our network as they sleep (I am thinking of putting earplugs by the bedside.) He was pleased with the move because it meant MY computer was kicked out so now the room is all his (except when guests come). There is space on the desk for him to luxuriate with two monitors, and a bookshelf to house his geeky books and knicknacks. A window next to him lets in lots of light, and opens to a lovely bamboo view. He has worked from home the last two days, in fact, to revel in it all.
There is a lot more crap that was in the old guest room that will have to go. We are incredibly short on storage space here, due to a severe lack of closets, and no garage or attic, per se. We did have some attic “wings” off our bedroom floored for storage, which helps some, but they are currently filled with luggage, holiday decorations and a classroom’s worth of teaching supplies. Now I need to find a place for all the stuff (towels, books, candles, pottery, office supplies) that used to take up residence in the guest room. Some of it will have to go, though I am bad at that. But I know I can do it; in chipmunk fashion I have learned to carefully note each little corner, or unfilled shelf throughout the house that is not properly utilized. It is rewarding to eke out storage where at first glance there seemed to be none.
But all this takes energy. It is hard work to manage the typical amount of stuff one tends to possess these days (at least here, where we live)! That’s why when I see old episodes of Little House on the Prairie, or other such things, I revel in the thought of paring down the household to what will roll in a wagon behind a pair of horses. Imagine that! The electric mixer would be out. So would that extra monitor!
And now, after being glued to cable news for a few days, I can’t help but think of all those folks who are dealing with the total devastation of their houses, their neighborhood, their city. Getting out with nothing but their lives, and the shirts on their backs. And here I am trying to cram my extra stuff under the bed, or into cupboards. Egads, it is difficult to wrap one’s mind around that. I feel lucky, thankful, sorry, horrified, odd.
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Katrina’s recent hit has put a lot of things in persepective for me also. I was watching TV last night and the only family picture a man could fine was one family snapshot. He was so thankful to have found that. It’s very sad, the people in the path of Katrina were hit so hard. Makes me thankful for all that I have too.