"History will be kind to me for I intend to write it. "
Winston S. Churchill
Derek and Elaina asked for this.
The young, attractive couple built a beautiful home a couple of years back at the entrance to our development. He's in banking, she's a schoolteacher. Last year they had their first baby. (We believe they are still our neighbors, but we don't actually know because no one has yet emerged from hibernation after this lovely winter. Let's just say that they were our neighbors when we left in January.)In front of their place there is now a big red dumpster, which is intriguing, because they have a new home, which is certainly not ready for remodeling. Anyway, one day, set forlornly beside this big, red dumpster was a used, smallish, round-top dining table.
The big handwritten sign on it said "Free." I have learned from my daughters (left) that such items are the best things in life.Nobody was at home when I grabbed their table and tossed it in the back of the Rendezvous, so Derek and Elaina still have no idea who it was who scarfed up their old dining table that day. One wonders who they think it might be. Perhaps some nice young couple, down on their luck, now enjoying hearty family dinners on their newly-acquired round dinette? Sorry to disappoint. Here's my story:
I have been reading the works of Sir Winston S. Churchill. He was not only a great leader, but a skilled writer as well. I hope to own some of his prized hard-bound original works someday. Right now it is mostly from weathered pulp paperbacks that I read his splendid accounts of The Finest Hour, The Blitz and other achievements by what has come to be known as "The Greatest Generation."In Arizona, we scoured the Golden Goose and other thrift stores and came up with a few books written by others about Churchill and his era, (his buddy, FDR, etc.) but so far little from his hand. Please examine your holdings. and if you have any such dusty tomes, we can deal.
I would like to shelve my modest collection appropriately, adjacent to a portrait I have of Mr. Churchill that I got off the internet and framed. The bookshelf should be substantial and of good character, befitting its burden.
And so, the table becomes a bookshelf.
My thanks to Derek and Elaina. Your dining room table has been dismembered, and its smartly-turned leg is now a useless garage artifact. But the solid top has been sawn in half, portions of it quartered, then joined with some dentil molding, sanded and smeared with a reddish old-world stain. It is a work in progress, I present early photos here and will follow up with the final mounting.My readings have shown how Churchill valued innovation and invention and encouraged citizens to sacrifice and make do with scarce and limited resources. No matter what others may think, I'd like to believe this wise statesman would cheer my dive into the neighbor's dumpster.
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