Stripped
Written by washwords on May 21, 2008 – 8:08 pmJust trying to drive web traffic, also “lindsay lohan” “free” “naked”
But seriously folks…. today, in the ongoing saga of my cooperative renovations, I came home to a ripped up carpet. I mean completely barebones gone.
Wow this is ugly, I thought glaring at the yellow tape, peeling paint, staples, long winding cracks meandering like veins between my apartment and my neighbors’ homes.
It is ugly, glaring, in the modernized streamline that is our beaaaaautttiful DC home. but…
on second thought,
it is also real.
With the carpet gone, voices echo, loudly. You can see bits of carpet gone by (blue and and frayed, black and tightknight), a veritable family tree of the hallway that was. You can feel the floor, including it’s ripples, cracks, and bumps beneath your feet. You can hear the click of heels across it, what gets dropped, what gets picked up, the rhythm of different feet.
It is raw, real and I like it. Not quite enough to be sad about the coming new sleeker, modder new brown and tan carpet, mind you, but still. I have seen the core of my building and it is a good one.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Tags: bare, carpet, core, heart, home improvement, raw, real, renovations, roots, sleek, stripped, wash
Posted in wash | 4 Comments »
May 21st, 2008 at 9:17 pm
In my oldest memories, home is a big old house with creaky wood floors and echoing rooms. I feel lucky to have settled down in just that kind of house. The old floor beneath my feet tells the story of my house — the scratches and dings caused by two centuries of feet and furniture, the patched places where there used to be a stairwell, the perfect circle cut to accommodate (I think) a stovepipe. There are insect holes that must have been in the wood before the tree was cut down. When we were renovating the dining room a couple of years ago, my wife and I used a metal stepladder that was missing the rubber cap that should have covered the sharp edge of one its legs. Now, a section of the wide-plank is marked by dozens of tiny crescents. So we’ve become part of the story, too. Some people don’t like old floors — they’re not nearly level, they’re noisy, we should maybe cover them with carpet. I say, no way. I appreciate the history. Or maybe it’s empathy, now that I’m also scratched and dinged and a little creaky, too.
May 21st, 2008 at 10:19 pm
rayc! You’re back! now… when are YOU going to start your blog!
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:18 pm
I’d blog but … I have nothing to say!
May 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 am
not true, Ray C! what you posted here was beautiful! Send more! (p.s. like I have anything to say?)
Happy memorial day, glad friends and strangers alike have found me!