Thursday, March 29, 2007
Feet up and skinning
Think about your favorite piece of furniture. Everyone has something.
Some people like their grandmother’s china cabinet.
Some have a penchant for a handmade end table.
Some prefer the luxury of a cushy recliner chair.
I met one of my student’s fathers today. He was a funny old man. Jolly even, complete with big smiles and goofy stories of days gone by. We discussed his son’s behavior in class and the state of his grades. And he told me about “old Barrow” with the dogs and honey buckets and seals a-plenty. How resourceful and natural they used to be.
How much better it was back then.
As he was moving to leave he pulled his beaver skinned hat onto his nearly balding head when something struck me. The “leather” on his hat was not tan or white or any other natural shade.
It was blue.
With a curious look I asked him about his hat.
He told me one last story. “I had this old recliner chair, quite a few years ago. Most comfortable thing I ever sat on. It was pretty dirty, but I just loved it. My wife told me I had to get rid of it, once the thing started to smell bad.
So, I skinned that chair and made me a pair of gloves this hat.
It doesn’t smell as much as a hat.”
This is a man after my own heart. I wish I still had pieces of all my old recliners. I could have a bloody quilt by now.
Some people like their grandmother’s china cabinet.
Some have a penchant for a handmade end table.
Some prefer the luxury of a cushy recliner chair.
I met one of my student’s fathers today. He was a funny old man. Jolly even, complete with big smiles and goofy stories of days gone by. We discussed his son’s behavior in class and the state of his grades. And he told me about “old Barrow” with the dogs and honey buckets and seals a-plenty. How resourceful and natural they used to be.
How much better it was back then.
As he was moving to leave he pulled his beaver skinned hat onto his nearly balding head when something struck me. The “leather” on his hat was not tan or white or any other natural shade.
It was blue.
With a curious look I asked him about his hat.
He told me one last story. “I had this old recliner chair, quite a few years ago. Most comfortable thing I ever sat on. It was pretty dirty, but I just loved it. My wife told me I had to get rid of it, once the thing started to smell bad.
So, I skinned that chair and made me a pair of gloves this hat.
It doesn’t smell as much as a hat.”
This is a man after my own heart. I wish I still had pieces of all my old recliners. I could have a bloody quilt by now.
posted by Jody @ 11:29 AM 
