I bought two chairs yesterday at the Community Flea Market, a little
store in town that sells unusual items and junk. I saw the chairs sitting in the
parking lot next to the big empty boat filled with lots of things to entice passersby.
They are folding beach chairs made of wood with a piece of striped colored
fabric draped from one end to the other that acts as the seat. I am not certain
why they caught my eye other than the fact that I am living in a house on the
water and that they are beach chairs. They are old and made of wood that
desperately needs to be oiled from sitting out in the weather and drying out.
The wood appears to be teak but of that I am not certain just yet. They are
adjustable and can be placed in various positions from straight up to straight
down flat. At first sight I thought that the fabric might be dry rotted and
need to be replaced, but upon meeting and talking with Dan the proprietor of
the establishment I was reassured that he had sat in them and in his own words “they
held my fat ass”. This and the fact that he also said that he would make me a
deal on them that I could not refuse made it impossible not to want the chairs
even more so than I had previously thought. The chairs had little orange
stickers on them with a price of $10 each, which I thought was reasonable and
willing to pay, but when Dan said “I’ll give them both to you for $15", I was
sold. I thought to myself at that price even if they need new fabric I can get
them redone next door at the upholstery shop and still be ahead. So, needless
to say Dan rang up the sale as a young man and his wife waited in line to
purchase an old metal model car, and a very attractive woman walked by wearing
very revealing black yoga pants. Hey, just trying to describe the scene, OK?
Anyway, Dan and I discussed my reason for purchasing the chairs, living in the
area and how much he loved it, me living in the old house on the water down the
road, and my concern with flooding. He mentioned that FEMA had money to raise
houses and that I should look into it and mentioned a local contractor who
specialized in doing that type of work if that might alleviate my concern.
You see, the whole reason or at least one of the reasons that brought
me to this little store in this little town is the house on the water. The
house belongs to, and was purchased by my sister many years ago as a possible
retirement home for her and her husband. Unfortunately, after purchasing the
house it was hit by a major hurricane that tore the roof off and flooded the
entire first floor. After extensive repairs and much heart ache the repairs
were completed only to have another storm hit the house a year and a half
later. This storm did not take the roof off, but it did flood and more repairs
were required. The house sat vacant for many years and by the time I arrived
was in pretty bad disrepair. I won’t go into details here but let’s just say it
was unlivable and in need of much TLC.
When I first arrived it was June and the middle of summer. The
temperature was in the 90’s and I was not sure if the A/C worked and did not
attempt to turn it on for the first week or two. Sleeping on the floor on an
old mattress that had been there for God only knows how long and had been the
home it appeared of a few mice, I slept with the windows open and the ceiling
fan turned on high. It was too hot to wear clothes or pajamas to bed and sleeping
in the nude helped to stay cool. I found out quickly that although the
house faces the water and seemed private, I had not realized that people take
their boats out at night and was startled one night by a small laser beam
dancing on the bedroom ceiling as I lay there trying to fall sleep. I assume
now after being here for a while and meeting my neighbors that I was probably
the brunt of a few local jokes. Eventually on went the A/C and down went the
window shades at night.
Okay, so you say what has this all got to do with buying two chairs?
Well, if I hadn’t moved here for whatever reasons, if I hadn’t been riding by
this store on this particular day, and if I wasn’t writing this journal on my
time spent here, I honestly don’t really know. For some reason when I woke up
this morning I felt like writing and I thought the two chairs would make for an
interesting topic. So, long story short, I suppose if you feel a need to get
away to a place where you wake up in the morning wanting to write a story about
two chairs, or anything else that strikes your fancy, I have two comfortable
old beach chairs waiting for you.
Oh yeah, and you’re welcome to sleep in the nude if you are so
inclined, just make certain to close the shades…. it’s not as private as it
seems.
Robert
2016
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