Mary Beth Writes

People don’t need to care about “decorating and home design.” As long as one can live safely in their abode while getting done the things they need and want to get done, that’s civilization.

But many people desire to make their domiciles more than a safe place to eat, sleep, and couch potato-ize. In fact, pretty much the engine of Western Imperialism is linked to what homes look like. If no one cared about massive overweening treasure-packed mansions, who would have invented slavery, exploitation, graft, and corruption? What would Jane Austen have written about? How else could Jay Gatsby have tried and failed to win Daisy’s heart? (Talk to her about books, art, and how her day went? Respect her autonomy? Wait for her to figure out her husband is a cheat? These strategies have been known to work.)

Home decorating and interior design are generally about two motivations.
1. One motivation is to amass, curate, intimidate, and show off. You’ve occasionally been in such homes. You know what I mean.

2. The other motivation is more curious. Why do we care so much about this kind of chair and not that? Why do we hang prisms in a window and build lawn furniture from pallets? Why do we paint the kids’ room with Dalmatian spots or fairies flying across their ceiling?

We do this because we like to invite ourselves and others into our lives.

Whether we know what we are doing or not, most of us tend to create spaces that welcome the dear doofus we are now and the fine person we are waiting to become. We are inviting the people we want our kids to become. We are making a place for the friends we have and the ones we would like to have. We are welcoming the cats and dogs who will make us laugh and feel loved. (One decorates for pets by having upchuck-tolerant furniture and not having poisonous plants.)

Home design is about making the space to which we invite ourselves and others. Which means, of course, It's can be humorous to look around at where we live right now and wonder just who it was we hoped would turn up….

Which leads directly into … Le Bistro … the space Len and I cobbled together this spring on the concrete apron of our garage.

..

Our yard is luxuriously small. Mowing takes 20 minutes. One could turn the whole thing into flower and vegetable beds, and it would be a “small garden.”

The one luxury we didn’t have here was an inviting kind of outdoor place. Midwesterners know that January is long and if you are going to get through it, you need to have enough July evenings stored in your soul. Plus, the pandemic arrived, and it isn’t like we can travel far away to restore our spirits.

The week before the pandemic our guerilla arborist friend Chet trimmed huge branches from the trees behind our property. Suddenly we had a sunny backyard and a LOT of wood debris.

One thing led to another. We cleared branches and sticks for days. We bought a fire pit in which to burn sticks, since the town yard waste recycling depot was closed for Covid.

We already had a patio set and umbrella passed along to us by folks moving on to other styles. Free and uncomplicated is one of my favorite decorating styles.

I decided to paint the concrete. We already had a gallon of white. I bought two quarts of black and it “only” took two astoundingly sweaty afternoons to get everything prepped, marked out, painted, and painted. I considered buying outdoor rugs except this area is the path from car to back door, we walk here constantly. I figured sooner or later I would trip on a rug. Paint was the nuttiest, least expensive, and safest idea. Then there were classy and subdued stencil ideas on the internet. As you can see, I didn‘t go for classy and subdued.

Painted the black and white bistro floor. Set the table and umbrella in the middle. Bought one red geranium and Mary brought me another one.

Len attached eye hooks to the garage and house to which he attached vinyl covered steel cable which is the wire one hangs pictures from. He attached to those cables the strings of Edison lights he bought last year on sale. Inside the garage he plugged them into a ‘wireless remote-control electrical outlet switch’ – so that we can turn the lights on or off from the kitchen.

For about 20 hours and a hundred dollars we have a Covid-free Parisian bistro (I’ve never been to Paris, don’t tell me…). I like sitting there by myself, feet up, filthy from yard work, drinking coffee. I like dining ‘al fresco’ with Len, turning supper into a date. I like sharing it with friends, wine, snacks, and good conversation about important and unimportant things.

The Covid quarantine constrained so much of our lives. It’s nice to have a place that is an invitation to sit down and relax.

Comments

I have shared your picture with 3 friends. All three friends are in various stages of making an outdoor space their own.
Mary Beth's picture

That is so cool to hear. We humans do well when we have place of our own that welcomes us.

You two are too cool!
Mary Beth's picture

Am I going to feature your "outdoor space" one of these days? Ooh, that would be fun. People would love to see what you have created, not in 2 days, but in 20-plus years of love and attention - and sweaty work.

My back patio is my place of refuge in summer and it's been a work in progress like everything else around here... I work on it a little at a time when I don't wish to do the things that really matter... It tends to be designed by the. B-Day gifts I give to myself every year... The outdoor rugs I bought on clearance last year, the elaborate wrought iron table with flowers and vines found in an antique store and purchased last year after months of indecisiveness about it and the safety of the thick glass top... I finally went in and asked if I had to buy the whole thing? Owner gave me a price without the glass top, (Happy B-Day to me) added a stainless top I already had, the modern round $20. Chandelier purchased at a Habitat Restore... The Martha Stewart chairs purchased at three different Kmart's in Racine and Kenosha at the end of season sale years ago, came in sets of four so I went to three stores to get them cheaper than the price for one set... Coffee table from Pier One.( ¿Do these stores even exist these days? ) I'm still looking for a mid-century metal sofa to finish it off, already thifted the glass top sofa table and a $19. Habitat metal chair so I'm coming to the finish line... The vision in my head is almost a reality... I'm already taking phone calls and Zooming with Mr."B" from my backyard sanctuary in anticipation of it being completed... More on date #2 and him later...

Love it! I think the black and white IS very classy. We sit on the front porch and eat when it’s tooo hot inside. Our furniture is all from tag sales. And holds up under sweaty bodies. Now we need some of those light strings....hum
Mary Beth's picture

There's something about lights, isn't there?

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Len’s Birthday

11/30/2023

Last week I mentioned that Monday of this week would be Len’s birthday. A friend remarked to me ever so kindly later that day, “I thought his birthday was the 30th?”

It is. Len’s birthday is the 30th. This same friend has commented to me, over the years, about how much I remember.

Covid Diary #1350 Thanksgiving

11/22/2023

Today is 1350 days since the that March Friday in 2020 when we all went into quarantine.

Today is 60 years since JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963. I remember that day, so does Len, so do many of you. Here’s a scary truth. We are as far today from that day – as that day was from the Wright brother’s first flight at Kitty Hawk on Dec 17, 1903.

Quarantine Diary #1349 Sci-Fi & Prophecy

11/21/2023

We both took Covid tests this morning and both of us still have pink lines. I asked the internet what this means and it says I might be pregnant.

I have a call into my doctor’s office to discuss. I feel so much better that if I didn’t know I have Covid, I wouldn’t know it. I’ve been sicker than this after too much pie.

Covid Diary #1347

11/19/2023

A few of you might realize yesterday we were 1345 days since March 13, 2020, and today we’re at 1347. Yup, I used a different calculator. Just a fun reminder that precision depends as much on asking the right question as doing perfect math.

I’m in day #4 of having Covid. No more chills. I have a fever of 100.4 which is more impressive than the 100.2 that Len achieved on his Day #4.  I’m taking various OTC meds and I keep track of them in my phone’s notes because, wow, it’s so easy to have no memory of the last time one took something. I’m good. Enough.

Covid Diary #1345

11/18/2023

I thought I was done with the Covid Diary but guess what? Len and I caught Covid this week! Actually, Covid caught us. We have continued to wear masks in stores, library, meetings, and our church so we will never know for sure where Len encountered Covid. And since I got it four days later, I guess we know where I got it…

My New Substack for Short Stories

11/11/2023

Let’s call this “Old Dog Versus New Tricks.” Does it feel to you as if I’ve been extra quiet these past months? It does to me. One big reason is that I’ve been figuring out Substack.

Here’s the deal: In addition to this blog, I’ve been writing more creative fiction. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and I’m finally taking it seriously. I’m not giving up this website, but substack is going to let me concentrate on short stories and other stand-alone pieces.

What’s Substack?

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