In the olden days, the kitchen was the heart of the home. They cooked there, the fires kept the room warm, it was the central gathering place.My kitchen is NOT the heart of my home. It's this little square room that's kind of an afterthought. When we bought the house, we were so enamored with everything else about it, we didn't notice the kitchen until we started moving furniture and--HELLO!--where are we going to put the kitchen table? The kitchen was so small, there isn't even room for a tiny bistro table. So, we've eaten every one of our meals in the rather cramped dining room. (The original owner added a 4-foot bump-out on the south side of the room, otherwise, we'd be sitting in each others laps for meals.)
The dining room set is mission style, with two Captain's chairs and four regular. I sit on a regular chair facing west; hubby sits on a Captain's chair facing south. These chairs are HEAVY, and I'm just as glad I don't have to sit at the Captain's chair. When we eat lunch, my cat Fred will often sit on the arm of Frank's chair. He knows he isn't going to get anything to eat, he just likes to watch.
But I do sit on the other Captain's chair when I write. For the last two years, I haven't been able to write in my office. It's became a different kind of workplace where I send out correspondence, take care of e-mail, and do everything related to my writing career--except write. Go figure.In the summer, I love writing in the dining room because nature is so close. Being surrounded on three sides by windows, I can see a part of the garden, the birds are flying around, and there are flowers to be seen. In the winter, I can check the winter while I freeze my tootsies off. (They're great windows (no drafts), but all that glass makes it hard for the furnace to keep up.)
Bottom line: I get a lot of writing done there. And I should quite writing this and go fire up the laptop right now. I've got a book to finish.
How about you? Got any rooms you don't use for their intended purpose?
I am currently in complete distress over a place to write; I still haven't found my perch here in Abu Dhabi. I had a good place to write in Michigan, an even better one in Arkansas. Yet here, where I need to do ever so much MORE writing, I cannot seem to find a place. I have tried coffee shops, malls, my university office, even my apartment. I don't have a comfortable chair or desk space, which is the main problem I think. If I try writing in public, I face a constant barrage of noise, temperature fluctuations, smoke in nonsmoking areas, etc. I am truly in distress because I have a dissertation to finish!!
ReplyDelete