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July 1, 2006
Ding Dong, The Couch Is Gone
Remember when I wrote about how much I hated my couch, the hideous, old, uncomfortable couch desecrating my living room?
Well, last week I just couldn't stand it any more, so I went furniture shopping. It took me a while to find something I both liked and could afford, but eventually I came across something I could live with and put down a deposit. Tuesday two very nice young men showed up and assembled a spiffy new futon in my living room. At first I wasn't sure I liked it: it's a futon, not a couch, and futons just aren't as settled and grown-up as couches. But I wanted something practical--something my cat couldn't shred, first of all--and I also don't feel settled enough to invest in expensive upholstered furniture. The futon is also big: taller, wider, and deeper than its predecessor. At first it seemed to overpower the room, and I worried that I'd made a mistake.
But now I've had a few days to get used to it and it's fine. I don't love it, but I don't hate it the way I hated that couch, either. But the real bonus is that the couch has been granted a new life and I no longer hate it, either. In fact, I love it!
I have a screened back porch that's bigger than my bedroom. It's really great. I have lots of plants out there, and my cat sits and watches rabbits and robins cross my lawn, so she feels she's communing with the outdoors but I don't have to worry about her being run over or throttled by a nasty dog. There's a table and chairs as well, and I often eat out there during the summer. I sometimes sit and read, but the chairs are those formed plastic affairs and they just ain't good for long-term sitting.
Enter the crappy old couch! Originally I had the guys haul it back there just so I could store it someplace until I could call someone to take it to the dump. But then I thought, "What the hell; might as well use it for the summer," and I covered it with an old flannel sheet so the dust wouldn't settle into it. And then I sat down on it to read and while it wasn't very comfortable compared to the furniture INSIDE my house, it was a billion times more comfortable than the other patio furniture OUTSIDE. The cat seems pretty pleased with it too. And now I'm thinking I'll get a tarp and cover it during the winter so the snow doesn't damage it, and it can live out there forever.
One of my friends told me that when he lived in Syracuse, there was an ordinance banning furniture from front porches unless it met certain specifications: wicker was allowed, for instance, and wrought iron. But the ordinance was designed to make it impossible for people (i.e., students) too lazy and/or cheap to transport some awful castoff couch to the dump where it belonged to instead plop the couch down on the front porch where everyone would have to look at it, and where couch owners could lounge, drink beer, and heckle their neighbors and unsuspecting passers-by. My town has no such ordinance, but even if it did, I don't think it would matter because MY hideous castoff couch is on my BACK porch.
And it is glorious. I'm going out to sit there now.
Posted by Holly at July 1, 2006 8:01 AM
Comments
Nothing quite takes me back to the feeling of a relatively stress-free youth than the notion of reading out of doors in the summer. As I've aged, I find it less comfortable to sit on the ground and the bright sun hurts my eyes. I've turned cranky! I have a chair in my study right underneath a south facing window that lets in good light and fresh air but as comfortable as it is, it's not the same. I think you've hit on the perfect solution for both you and your cat. If you look up from a good book with a smile to see your cat eyeing the birds pecking at the back garden and you feel a nice summer breeze ruffle both fur and long hair, you can be sure that I'll be feeling a small pang of envy.
Posted by: spike at July 2, 2006 5:05 AM
I sat upon many couches yesterday, but failed to find one as comfortable as my old one. I decided that I would be better off finding the perfect slip cover.
Your back porch sounds wonderful! Everyone needs a place to commune with nature without fear of being run over. Enjoy!
Posted by: Saviour Onassis at July 2, 2006 1:10 PM
As I've aged, I find it less comfortable to sit on the ground
Well, you must have been more.... limber or tolerant or something in your youth than I was, Spike, because I've never liked sitting on the ground.
But I will certainly think of you when I am enjoying just the scene you describe.
I decided that I would be better off finding the perfect slip cover.
I find slip covers really tricky--they slip! But they do make an ugly but comfortable couch at least presentable. I hope you find a good one, SO.
Posted by: Holly at July 2, 2006 6:58 PM