The Attic

 

Storage space is a rare commodity in our home.  As a result, we’ve poked around trying to find places to appropriately sock away stuff.  We have two attics here.  One is through a closet (reminds me a bit of Narnia).  That’s where we put luggage and off season clothes.  It’s awkward but it’s easy to get to. 

The other one is larger, but it’s something of a pain to access.  I have to wedge a step ladder in front of the washing machine, pop an unhinged hatch up into the space and climb into the oven or refrigerator depending on the season.  Insulation abounds, no floor to cover it.  Lots of space but not lots of usable space.  What floor is afforded has already received the Christmas debris.  So, I’m putting in a floor. 

It doesn’t sound difficult, but it’s awkward to say the least.  As I get pieces of plywood cut to fit through the hatch, fitted and ooched into place screwing them down with the driver I also brought up, being careful to stay balanced on the rafters (a bit of a slip could put my foot through the ceiling) all the while dripping on whatever I’m doing, then I have more floor from which to work.  Oh, and I have to be careful not to fall through the hatch.  Chris has warned me I’ll dent the washing machine. There is hope.  But the present tense is tense, and drippy.  Anything to be stored up there should be stuff that we don’t need weekly. 

I guess we all have attics.  Places where we put things, memories, joys, fears, hobbies, relationships that we want to keep, but we don’t access them too often.  We can’t keep everything.  Then we’d never be able to appreciate things, we’d only keep them.  Some people like to keep life stripped down to bare walls and floors.  Why keep stuff?  My life tends to have more to it than bare walls and floors.  I like to do more than function.  Everything I keep is about a story, a person, a glory, and almost every bit and piece is valued.  We are still getting rid of stuff.  But I hope that we never strip our lives down to function and only that. 

As I get more floor laid, I kind of like the space, hot though it may be.  Attics are interesting.  The bones of the house are visible.  The how’s of the structure are there to see.  We’ve got a good house.  The heating guy said it’s tight.  He spends a lot of time in attics. 

I’ve got a few pieces cut.  Time to visit our home’s bones.