We passed them at a quick stroll, exited, and moved on to another shop. Nothing. But the owner of this particular store directed us down the road to a huge second-hand mall in Medford. In his words, "If you don't find it there, you won't find it anywhere." So down the road we went--a rather slow, traffic-light-pocked by-way of dubious beauty, eventually arriving at what we were sure was the place of which we'd been told. Wandering through a myriad of booths turned up only one possibility--another handcarved 1880's chair, closer to our price range, yet more of a desk chair than a setting chair. Recalling the man's statement, we almost purchased it, for fear that we would find nothing more in keeping with our shadowy picture.
However, after a period of hmm-ing and haw-ing , we ultimately headed back to Ashland to give the green chairs another look. That return trip brought its own set of anxieties: would the shop still be open? Would the chairs still be there, now that our eyes had turned back to them? Yes, they were, and before long, we were tootling down the road with one of them. Through the course of the week, we used that chair as the touchpoint to create a whole different feel in my daughter's room. A cover for her quilt. Pillows. Wall and window hangings: everything referenced back to our found treasure.
How often we wander through our days looking for something we've glimsped in our hearts, be it direction, relationship, or dream, hoping we'll know it when we see it, and not totally confident we'll find it, after all. We wander about in the cloudiness of uncertainty, hesitant to depart from the familiar, fearful of missing the best, and not confident we know what that looks like. It is in these times that we often settle for less, as almost happened with the 1880's desk chair. True, it was lovely in itself with its dark carved roses and graceful cabrolet legs. But it was lesser.
Beautiful story about the search for that 'just-right' chair, beautiful chair, and beautiful people in that chair!
ReplyDeleteWhat an absolutely lovely room! You ladies... Wow.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
ReplyDeleteThe room is beautiful; and the writing, your words always leave me feeling a little more alive.
ReplyDelete