What is a home?

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"A house should be comfortable for those who live there."
Beverly Cleary, author of the Ramona and Henry Huggins books


Every two weeks, our house gets spruced up by our magnificent Partner in Domestic Matters (PIDM), Linda. Before she arrives, we tidy the place to within an inch of its life so that Linda can perform her hard-work magic unencumbered by the lived-in state of the joint. Between our pre-effort and Linda's main-event effort, the house looks spectacular. Spic and span. Neat and tidy. Like a show home. 


it stays like that for not very long, as we really live in our house. Books get piled on the coffee table. The kitchen counter gets cluttered with scraps of grocery lists and chore lists. The bedroom hooks get filled with layers of clothing that could be hung up in the closet, but don't quite make it there. In short, our daily living is evidenced everywhere you look. 


Sometimes, I walk into the house and cast a ‘would I buy this house?’ eye onto the lived-in state. Hmm, I say. Well, the natural light coming in is lovely. The original woodwork is very nice. But there are a few too many chairs and sofas, aren’t there? Why are there so many? 


Well, we need them all. One by the dining table — it’s the conversation chair for whoever is keeping the cook company in the adjoining kitchen. The recliner is Val’s reading chair. The other one is for morning coffee, as it catches the early light so well. The sofa is long enough to stretch out on. The white chair is perfect for TV watching. The love seat is Holly’s current favourite morning sleeping spot…And on it goes. Every chair or sofa has a raison d’être. 


Too crowded for a real-estate agent staged home? Absolutely. But absolutely perfect for the two of us three of us who live here. 


And, as Beverly Cleary wrote in her very enjoyable memoir that I recently read, “a home should be comfortable for those who live there.” 



Note: Cleary died in March of this year, just 18 days shy of her 105th birthday. That is reason enough to read her memoir, but read it for the story it tells of a young depression-era woman determined to make her own way in life by standing on her own feet. Her memoir is titled My Own Two Feet. 


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A Post a Day in May No. 17 For the past two years, I have posted something to this blog every single day in May. This year, I hope to do it again. 



Comments

  1. AnnMay 17, 2021 at 5:43 AM

    Our home has been disrupted for the past three months: hospital bed in sunroom, along with bags of necessities for a near invalid, bedside commodes, two wheelchairs (one used and one sent from a friend and never touched), aluminum walkers (3), rollators (1) , morning and evening meds and prn meds no longer in their proper places, chairs moved from one room to another -- I could go on but I won't, except for bathing paraphernalia cluttering kitchen cabinets.

    All that and I, the cook and kitchen cleaner-up, unable to walk until two weeks ago, and Julia, the one who takes care of major issues, like what to do about the Israeli-Palestinian debacle, now the chief cook, fetcher and tidier.

    This role adjustment worked. Who knew. We survived! But today the last of the equipment gets sent back or put in the attic. And our clean, but perhaps untidy, life returns to its previous level of familiar comfort.

    I have learned, in twenty-five years together, that neither Julie nor I like change, not even on which side of the refrigerator lives the milk.

    PS I love PIDM. Ours is Janette, and without her we would have dissolved into chaos recently.

    ReplyDelete
  2. danielle-momoMay 17, 2021 at 6:43 AM

    I smiled. Like you, I tidy up my home every two weeks before Isabelle comes in cleaning.
    I thought that when retired, I would do it myself but she does it so well and needs it for a living
    Furthermore, while she does it I can do something that I like more than cleaning.

    My home is to my image not to a magazine one and not a staged one.
    I love it and “ hope “ to keep it for many years to come.
    This hope include doing what it takes to keep it up to date.

    ReplyDelete
  3. PamelakatMay 18, 2021 at 9:14 PM

    Your home is warm, bright, and welcoming, Amanda. Thumbs down to real estate "staged" rooms, created as a guide for house buyers with no imagination!

    I'm glad to know about Beverly Cleary's memoir, which I now plan to read. Such a beloved writer, and an amazing woman.

    ReplyDelete
  4. BarbaraMay 21, 2021 at 12:23 PM

    Yes! It should be comfortable, there must be reading chairs, lamps and sofas to stretch out on, it should make you happy to be in your home. Everywhere you look you can rest your eyes on something that is beautiful, makes you happy and/or refreshes memories.

    ReplyDelete

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