The Chair....

As I pulled up in front of the shop, Janalee was staring at something on the sidewalk. I got out of the car and walked up next to her: it was a chair.

Janalee’s booth in the antiques’ shop was always the most marvelous place in the whole store. She had a keen eye for arranging things in an enticing fashion and the “things” were fascinating: anything French, anything gold, anything glamorous, and well, anything. 

Other dealers’ booths were quite ordinary, including mine. Janalee could sell anything. She had a cement garden fountain filled with things she accidentally broke, such as dishes, flowerpots and all sorts of ceramic knickknacks……the amazing part? She actually sold the broken things!

So I was quite surprised to see her staring intently at such an ordinary chair. Made of wood, with a slatted back and seat, the paint was peeling off and it leaned rakishly to one side. As I was standing next to her, trying to figure out what she was thinking about, she spoke: “why don’t you take it home?” And I looked at her blankly.

“You have such imagination and you make ordinary things sparkle. Why don’t you take it home?” She was smiling at me and gesturing toward the humble chair. I didn’t know what to say….the Queen of Shabby Chic and all things glamorous was complimenting me? She Who Could Sell A Broken Dish was uninspired by this lowly chair?

I looked again at the chair and thought of something: I had just lost a flowering bush in the front yard to the new sewer line that had to be placed. It seemed like such a crime, too: to spend five thousand dollars for something that was buried underneath the front lawn? Truly a crime! And then to lose a beautiful flowering bush in the process? Another crime.

And so, I gave Janalee three dollars and lugged the chair home with me. No matter how I tried, it would not sit up straight in the front flower bed. I knew the drill: I have two bamboo chairs “planted” in a flower bed in the backyard. I got them from another antiques’ dealer who was going to throw them away just because the seats were gone. My nandinas didn’t care: they welcomed the addition to the flower bed. And the ivy? Climbed all over them!

After repeated tries, and a couple of stepping stones, I was able to get the chair to sit upright. It creaked when I moved it, as if to tell me that it was tired and tired of being moved. I chose to ignore its complaints because I knew that, in the end, it would be a happy chair.

After getting it to sit upright—finally—I headed off to the nursery. I had already purchased a bush to replace the one the plumbers killed but it was quite small and didn’t nearly fill up the space where the other bush had been. I also planted a small nandina because I love their feathery leaves. It too, was very small. 

By the time I got home from the nursery, the chair was starting to feel better about its fate: it was standing tall and proud in the empty place under the guest bedroom windows. It was still rickety, and the paint was still peeling but, in the shade of the big ash trees, it looked content.

I brought home a “color bowl” from the nursery: preplanted with marigolds, pansies, and alyssum in white and purple. I ceremoniously placed the color bowl on the seat of the chair. My intention was to discourage anyone from sitting in Chair…..but the effect was more than I bargained for: Chair looked positively regal with its crown of flowers!

For the next five years, Chair got a new color bowl each spring. Looking every bit the Royal Guardian of my front lawn, Chair presided over Easter egg hunts, family photos, and football, soccer and baseball games. Standing ever straight and tall, Chair proved to be worthy of the three dollars I spent.

And now, this year, Chair is leaning precariously to the right. The stepping stones that righted it previously are still in place. I fussed with it for a few minutes today and then realized what the problem is: the bushes I planted have grown and they are trying to push Chair out of the way.

And so, it’s time for Chair to move again, but not to worry. It’s going in the backyard, in an empty spot along the back fence where I need to plant some things to fill in the space. In the meantime, Chair will have pride of place—again.

And a new color bowl, of course..