Whew! Is this a trip down memory lane! This house that I have been describing often appears in my dreams. It is the house I lived in the bulk of my childhood. It wasn't an ideal house, but my parents did the best they could. I never really felt embarrassed by it until I went over to some of my rich friends houses that were very extravagant. That didn't happen until about 6th grade though. I only had two friends over to play- Kristin, and my cousin Stephanie. I knew they wouldn't make fun of me or talk bad about me because of my housing situation.
So our house wasn't ideal, but us kids (and probably my dad), really trashed the place. Let me take you on a tour.
Welcome to the Silvester's! Please watch your step as you walk up this fabulous weather-worn porch. Careful, because the railing only goes about three feet across and the remaining ten feet is a free fall (It was only like a foot or less drop, though).
Let's knock on the door here...not too hard, now though because you might get a splinter. Notice the lovely fake plexiglass windows. Very nice orange tint. Alright, step over the threshold and onto the cracked and chipped linoleum entryway. You can see the mud and dirt that has accumulated around here. This denotes a very hard working family not afraid to get there hands dirty. Very good! Oh, and that pleasant warmth is the wood stove to your right. Excellent craftsmanship. Must be well over 40 years old and still in good condition. Except the tin foil repair job half way up the chimney pipe. Very clever fix, indeed. Oh and see the pot of boiling water on top? Yes that serves a purpose for cooling the stove but I never quite understood how. But look at the expertly cut wood lining the wall next to it. Hauling that in was a blast, let me tell you. At least I was too weak to be the chopper. It makes me cold thinking about that. Oh and there is the newspaper box that we used to store old newspapers to make kindling. I learned quite a few tricks from that.
Next to the wood pile here, you see the entertainment center. Our tv was quite large and we had a very nice CD player. Lots of CD's and VHS cases are strewn about though, and I doubt anything is in the right spot. Quite dusty too, and there are a few wood chunks strewn about on the floor by it. Wearing socks is a must. On the TV there is most likely a sports broadcast on or a movie that we repeatedly watched. Seinfeld was a big show in our house, as was The Simpsons. The couch is on this far way kitty corner to the TV. The hallway (if you can call it that)goes between the couch and TV and leads to the bathroom and two bedrooms.
The couch is a pleasant pattern of blue, ivory, and goldish striped. Maybe there was some green too. It is situated right under the big opening into the kitchen. Sort of like a big window, without a window pane.
On the opposite wall of the couch there is another smaller couch and a recliner. These are not fancy at all but are pretty comfy. Behind them is a sliding glass door laden with a heavy beige curtain. The same scene repeats itself on the wall kitty corner to that one. Don't ask me why someone thought to put in two sliding glass doors in the same room, let alone 10 feet from one another. It was probably an 800 square foot house, if that. TWO sliding doors. I mean really?
Anyways, there was also a computer desk that moved around. A dresser with a mirror that ended up in my room when we moved to the new house was also there. It held random objects and all sorts of junk. I think there was a filing cabinet.
But now let me tell you what you would see when you walk in, in a nutshell. Toys, papers, blankets, clothes, wood chips, and all sorts of odds and ends that seem to be seeping from the walls and underneath the furniture. It is a small living room with a lot of furnishings and lots of junk. Whenever we had to clean, basically we shoved everything into a corner and cleared a walking space and called it good.
I almost forgot the lamp. There was no light in the living room so my dad hung an awesome vintagey lamp on a hook that had a chain wrapped around the cord. It had a green bulb cover and was bumpy. Totally rockin!
So that concludes this section of the tour. Please join me next time as we delve further into my upbringing.
Adieu.
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