It didn't start out to be my writing place----
It wasn't part of the plan...
our dining table, that is.
For years I had wanted an OAK ROLL-TOP
DESK---one of those built to
last a thousand years...
Yes! An oak roll-top desk...with lots of lilttle
drawers and cubby-holes to
stash stuff in....
Like old general stores in small towns had...
and grizzled veteran lawyers
and accountants all used in their
back room private offices...
One like Uriah Heep had in that 19th century
Charles Dickens book!
But it was too late in life for a thousand-year
desk.
It would've been here aging, mellowing,
getting scarred, and gaining "patina"
long after I needed it.
So it happened that one morning I was
sitting at my end of the dining
table, sipping coffee, and jotting
story ideas on my Staples pad---
here by the big double-window, where
the sun shines in, and the birds
play and the bushes sway---in the wind,
just outside!
I liked the feeling...the light...it's
on the east side of the
house...
I too have a real, regular office, with no view...
but over time, I adopted this---
my "coffee place," for writing---wearing out
several protective cloths, until
this marvelous "life-time" oil cloth
came along...embossed with
delicious, delectable, cheerful,
juicy-looking fruit photos!
How nice this spot is...now there's
a hanging grain-feeder for
the finches, wrens, nuthatches, and
always-present sparrows---
just five feet to my left...visible thru
the window!
A BIG roll-top desk would've been nice
but some four hundred
poems and stories have come from
this spot, and ten boxes-full more
are around me---aging like fine wine.
I remind myself, writers in history have
written in many strange and
unusual places---in the woods, as
M.O.---the fine poet, in a little old
leather notebook...with a stubby pencil...
And remember Thomas Wolfe, tall 6'6"
author of "You Can't Go Home Again?"
In the thirties he wrote while standing---
his notebooks atop a little
early fridge---his desk!
My place is fine for me...and I've learned---
The SUN is a good warm, inspiring
companion...for any task!
********************
BY MIL
MIL'S PLACE
MAY 1, 2015
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