My Quiet Place

I really like the situation of our house. It certainly isn't a fancy house, but it is oh so comfortable in a way that only a place that has been lived in by adults and children and pets for 30 years can be. It was never really decorated, it has just evolved. (and, yes, you would guess that a decorator had no hand in it)

From the office window I see a playground (maybe 100 feet from the window) where the neighborhood moms and child-caring grannies gather and the younger children play. Just outside the window -- six feet away, in the park -- is a tree in full bloom. Right now it wears lacy white flowers, in about 10 days it will suddenly be all pale green leaves. As I write this, rain has begun to descend by the bucketful. The park border plants used to grow up and hide our home from view. Now the weekend work gang keeps them cut back. I love to watch the walkers, and the dogs, and the bike riders, and the general activity. The Red Prince also likes to join me in this room. He sits in the window and takes in the action. Secure in the protection offered by a pane of glass, he can observe the world at large and they can notice that he is truly a beautiful cat.

Our kitchen and family room look onto a rather wild and woolly back yard. It's a bit overgrown, but really does look like woodland. The room itself is just as wild and woolly. This is where we do most of our living. There are often young cats careening off the walls and papers and books-in-the-process all over the place. I try to keep the mess contained, but never seem to succeed.

Our living room, however, has become my quiet place. It stays relatively clean and neat. The uncurtained view is to the little entry garden -- currently camellias, soon to be azaleas, then the hydrangea will take over -- and on out to the park. One end of the living room has been arranged to create a small formal parlor. The furniture is all hand-me-down with a Victorian feel. It is where many of the things I most treasure just for their beauty live. For most of the time we have lived in this house it has been a room used only for guests. However, I use this room for my daily meditation now. I sit on the loveseat, or one of the chairs, and find peace. I can't imagine why I haven't just come there more in the past. It was while sitting there this morning that it came to me how much I like where I live.

We all need to have a quiet place in our lives. Even if it is just a chair in the corner of the bedroom, it can be our escape.