Saturday, June 14, 2008


I'm sure this room will look much better photographed in daylight, but I'm pleased there's one room in my apartment I can call genuinely clean.* Everything is shiny and freshly scrubbed.
On the extreme left, you can see the pew my great-uncle Homer built for the church the family attended up in the hills in Arkansas. A few years back, the church was building a new structure and getting rid of the appointments from the old, and my mom snagged a pew each for me and my siblings. It's a lovely and warm reminder of him. He died way too young, just in 50s, I believe, and he was really a character. Last time I went to see her, Aunt Geneva was telling me about that week in the 1970s when Homer cut off part of his finger in his carpentry work, and then later the same week, she cut off the tip of her finger working on a machine making biscuit cans at a factory in Memphis. Her bosses said she needed to go to the doctor and she said "well, I guess so" and she drove herself to the doctor, and she said she and the doctor were laughing up a storm at how silly it was that she and Homer each cut off a finger tip in the same week. Uncle Homer fought in WWII, and the photos of him in his uniform and Geneva in her smart outfits look so warm and evocative of the best of 20th century America. It's delightful and instructive to think of folks who don't sit around lamenting a small thing they've lost, but see that as merely a part of life and not something to be given the energy it would require to grieve over anything.
It feels like having a part of the family history here to have this lovely pew Homer built, and one that must have accommodated the posterior of scores of folk related to me.
Once in church when I was maybe 5 or 6 I was fidgeting, I suppose, and dad reached around mom's shoulder and grabbed my ear and gave it the most ferocious pinch, it seemed at the time. I sobbed quietly the remainder of the service, but I didn't fidget. I wonder if we were sitting on this very pew? I must make a point to sit there sometime and fidget madly and defy anyone to pinch my ear. But that's the kind of hairpin I am.
It feels like progress on organizing my apartment has been extraordinarily slow. I've taken loads and loads of stuff to Goodwill, and there's still more to be sorted.
Gun show this weekend, and shooty goodness on Sunday. WOOHOO!
*if you don't look too closely at the floor

12 comments:

Joe said...

"I must make a point to sit there sometime and fidget madly"

Goodness we are kindred spirits. That is the kind of thing I would do, just to get the last word.

HollyB said...

It looks LOVERLY, LaP! And remembers I was there stackin' boxes willy nilly because tweren't room to put no more boxes no where else.

I think you've made AMAZIN' progress considering the hindrances you've had.

;)p I'll make sure I wear my white socks this afternoon to inspect those floors and you can do the same with mine tomorrow ;)p

Christina RN LMT said...

It's absolutely stunning, Phlegmmy!

You should be proud of yourself for all your hard work and the excellent results thereof.

Have a blast at the gunshow...I envy you!

We're going to be doing the Strip today, so I expect my feet are going to be sore...

Buck said...

Looks good to me, although I'm bettin' your Legion of Fans would like to see larger pics of same.

Just sayin'! ;-)

B said...

That pew has to be one of the coolest examples of a family heirloom I've ever seen. Are there any names carved into it? Old bubble gum wads underneath?

Anonymous said...

It's so inviting and lovely. Great job!

Have fun shootin' ;)

Lin said...

It DOES look wonderful although I had to peer madly to find the pew at first. What a wonderful memento of your family history. The one I have separating the Kitchen from the LR was taken in trade for restoring two humongous 19th century portrait frames. It's cool but doesn't have that personal background - which is everything.

none said...

Looks great!

The pew is an awesome heirloom.

Great story about the fingers. People were much more pragmatic about stuff back then.

Rabbit said...

We had a great time! That pew is a lot more comfortable than you'd think- must be because it's not in a church.

Once again, we both had a great evening.

Regards,
Rabbit.

Dedicated_Dad said...

Great story about the ear-pinch.

Helped to make you the amazing woman that you are.

I finally left my local church because it was filling up with parents who refused to discipline their kids. 10 y.o. boy playing with toy cars -- including sound effects -- during the sermon. Climbing under row after row of pews... He popped up literally between my daughter's legs, looked up her skirt and laughed. I "knuckle-popped" him on his head, thought I was going to have to do the same to his Dad... I told Dad "discipline your kid or keep him away from me so I don't have to." This boy is now 15 and in "juvie" after beating up his Mom.

Go figure.

Be glad Dad pinched your ear.

DD

How did we ever decide that teaching children how to act was "wrong"?

g bro said...

Looks like things are really coming along!

Alison said...

Looks great! Lot's of hard work, and it shows. I love the pew... but it would never fit in my tiny little kitchen... glad yours fits!