this place aint the same. It never will be

Day 2: 'view from the window'

There are two couches in the house. Two spots to sit and relax. One is in the living room, where the front door is, with the view of the busier street, the mailbox, the strange neighbor, the dog-fan neighbor, and the school. The room has a couple of tables and a large TV, along with several plants and a rack of books.

The other is in the fireplace room, on the rear of the house. It looks out onto the deck and backyard. Besides the fireplace, the room contains a table, a rack of music and another of movies, and a number of plants.

For a while this summer, I spent all my free time in the fireplace room. It was quieter and felt more secluded. The perspective was particularly lovely in the afternoon and evening, when I was often talking on the phone. With the back door open, the scent of lilacs would waft in. It was enough to make me believe in aromatherapy for real. Looking out that window, seeing that view...it was almost like living another life.

Since everything got cold again, though, I'm back to the front room. It keeps me more connected - I can see when my friends arrive, or when the mail comes (saving a trip all the way out to the mailbox). It centralized all the things I like to use (book, laptop, notebook) in one area. It allowed for easier transition between reading and movies.

And it shut off the memories of sitting on that other couch, in the back, talking on the phone.
Looking out that window, seeing that other life.


[the title quotation is by Cormac McCarthy, from Cities of the Plain]