When I was about four years old, my father bought my mother a swivel rocking chair present. It had a thick padded seat and back and was made of maple. It was great fun to sit in and rock while spinning this way and that. It was also large enough to climb up on Mom’s lap and cuddle while she read a story. The only problem was that it was top-heavy. My brother and I found out, if we ran across the living room and leaped into Mom’s lap, the chair would tip over backwards. If you have ever sat on the seat of a dunk tank you have some idea what it felt like to be flipped backwards on that chair. You could hear my mom yelling “No! No!” as one of us children would run, giggling across the room. Then my father would go over and untangle the wreck while trying to scold the child with a stern face instead of laughing.
I have always liked rockers and there was at least one somewhere in my house at all times. When my daughter was born, my husband bought me a big, heavy wood rocker. I would sit in it and rock my baby to sleep while the fireplace kept us warm and cozy. In Nebraska, my daughter found a maple platform rocker for a few dollars at a yard sale. It now sits in my apartment and is used daily for reading, crocheting or just relaxing. Not far from my platform rocker is a child’s oak rocker with my name carved in the back. My great-granddaughter likes to sit and visit me as we both rock back and forth.
When my brother and I were old enough to go to school, my parents bought each of us an old school desk from a one-room school. They were heavy and had the chair attached. There was a drawer under the chair and the desktop could be raised or tilted to accommodate different sized children. There was an indentation to hold a pen or pencil and a hole for an ink bottle. Because I was young and only familiar with ball point pens, the inkwell befuddled me. These desks and chair combinations were used for years by my brother and me to do homework.
Last week my boyfriend, his mother and I went to the Goodwill store. Not really needing to buy anything, I was wandering around absent-mindedly. Then, in the furniture area, I spied a desk and chair combination. It was a modern version made of molded plastic but, upon sitting in it, I found it quite comfortable. It was mounted on casters and I am sure it was never used in a classroom. Visions of students playing demolition derby or bumper cars with their desks led me to that conclusion. I am sure even college students would have a hard time resisting that temptation. The price was low, but after calling my boyfriend over, it was ascertained it would never fit into his car. We left without purchasing the desk and chair combination.
On Thursday my daughter asked me to pick her up after work at 7. Realizing that, although she works across town from the Goodwill store, if I left early I might be able to get the desk and chair. Googling the store I found they close at 7. I left early, but not as early as I had planned. Because I am prone to getting lost, I called my boyfriend for exact directions to the store. This was a good decision because my intended route would have taken me twice as long to get there. I set my cruise control at the exact speed limit because, in my hurry, getting stopped for speeding would have definitely made me late. All was going well until about six blocks from the store. A train. Luckily there were only a few cars left to pass when I got there but the autos in front of me took forever to start moving. Once moving, they were going at a snail’s pace. Reaching my next turn, I was sure to turn my cruise control back on. I arrived five minutes before 7. I zipped into the store just as the “five minutes to closing” announcement came on over the intercom. Fingers crossed, I headed straight back to the furniture. Hurrah! The desk was still there. I wheeled my find up to the cashier, paid for the desk, wheeled it across the parking lot, and deposited it into the back of my pick-up. Score!
Chairs come in all shapes and sizes and are used for many things. They may be one of the most under-rated pieces of furniture there is.
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