Friday, July 23, 2010

Summer Seating

I have a writing room of my own. I offered a tour here.

But I've gravitated to the living room. To the soft leather chair with the soft leather footstool. With the laptop on my lap. Or half on the footstool and half on my knees. Front row center for Tiger baseball games. And because Gracee, when she's here, prefers me to be on her level rather than sequestered in the penthouse.

My studio (I like to call it a studio--it sounds so artsy, so writerly) is neat.

My summer seating is not.

a cat licks lemonade swirl ice cream
from the chocolate-coated spoon and bowl
(katdish's fault--she made me do it)
that sit atop a notebook on the floor to my left
next to a dirty white slipper
(where IS the other one?)
a fan of bills that aren't due until next payday
and 101 Sneaky Weight Loss Secrets 
with Stone Crossings open to forest star
and plastic wicker book bag leans
against black computer bag that leans
against the chair
and to the right a Woman's World
Walk off 120 lbs the easy way
a Barnes and Noble receipt
Wordpress for Dummies
several explanation of benefit payments
(this is not a bill)
a credit union statement
and on the footstool my camera
a couple pencils and a red pen
still more bills and a
40th anniversary discounted subscription form
for Poets & Writers
on the antique table topped with a chicken lamp
Cinderella III (Gracee's) and the DVD remote
four backup CDs, a book of check carbons,
a pile of paid receipts and a cell phone
two bookcases that beckon
harp and hammered dulcimer mock untouched
and a rerun of this afternoon's Tigers' game plays
as I sit on the very edge of the cushion
while the cat purrs behind me
I write in place
and stay because I will trip on the cords
if I move from my summer seating.



Written for L.L. Barkat's prompt to write in place On, In and Around Mondays at Seedlings in Stone. Yes, I know it's Friday. Consider it around Monday--the next Monday. And go check out the other links.

Copyright © 2010 by Sandra Heska King

7 comments:

  1. I think you're grand because of the harp and hammer dulcimer, full bookshelves and comfy chair. :) Cozy incarnate.....

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  2. Are you watching baseball? Awesome! I have my own room, too. Upstairs. There are nights when the prospect of walking up the steps seems a little too daunting for me though, so I settle for the living room. I like it.

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  3. @Kathleen: Come for tea. Or coffee. Just come.

    @Billy: I'm safer in the living room. I'm always slipping down the stairs. They're farmhouse narrow and carpeted. Yep. Baseball. I'm a clapper and a screamer.

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  4. Thou shalt not covet Sandra's chicken lamp, thou shalt not covet Sandra's chicken lamp.

    I live in a one story house, and my children has taken over my living room. So unless I want to watch the Disney Channel or hear them argue over the Wii, I stay in my office/studio/retreat. But I have a tv and a comfy couch I sit on. No desk.

    And don't blame me for the lemon ice cream and chocolate--what kind of combo is that?

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  5. Baseball and an harp!Now that's a room!

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  6. Hi Sandy -

    I love both your spaces. My office is a work in progress and beginning to reflect my personal taste.

    Blessings,
    Susan :)

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  7. "I write in place
    and stay because I will trip on the cords
    if I move from my summer seating."

    That was marvelous. Like a poem in itself.

    So glad you offered a view of your place. :)

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