I once lived in a house that hated me.
No matter what I tried to do for it
update the kitchen
decorate with angels and lace
buy pretty drapes
it resisted.
I could decide to hang up the newest picture
of my first grandbaby
and find myself standing on a stepstool
surrounded by bunches of bent nails
because the walls had turned to stone
because they knew I wanted to hang a picture.
It was a cold house to boot.
It had radiators
which were nice and warm
as long as you stood close by them.
But when you walked away
you were struck by circles of chills
so that you could never get cozy in your robe at night.
Sometimes when Wes was working late
I swear I could hear people walking around
talking
upstairs.
It was a darn good thing
that we had a bathroom downstairs too
because no way would I go up there alone after it got dark.
Water ran crooked out of faucets
light bulbs blew out weekly
weird moths infested the butler's pantry
the floors seemed always wet
plants died
the house was dark
so I was glad when Wes decided
it was too far from work
and we moved away from it.
Since we are not rich folk
we had to buy a fixer-upper
for our next house.
But oh it was so sweet!
When I hung pretty priscilla curtains
you could just see it smile and preen!
It loved me.
So of course I loved it back.
It cooperated with anything I wanted to do.
It had plastic tiles in the kitchen
which of course you are not supposed to paper over
anybody knows that
but I decided to do it anyway
because the tiles were in bad shape
and that house helped me
by smoothing broken corners and hiding gouges
so that you could barely tell there were tiles under the wallpaper!
It had a stream running through the yard
full of turtles and crawdaddies
a perfect place for my now three
grandbabies to play.
Plus a treehouse!
Nobody ever got hurt
nothing bad ever happened
in that house.
But the house got small
the grandkids got big
and Wes needed a house with an office in it.
The house that we live in now
is more formal
than the cute little country house that we left.
It seems to like me okay
but it has a mind of its own
in regards to what it wants to look like.
At first I put up country curtains
in the main bathroom
and it hissed at me everytime I walked in there.
It sure didn't like country.
So all of my grapevine wreaths
ruffled plaques
country hats
priscilla curtains
are downstairs in boxes.
What this house likes
is my dolls.
They are scattered throughout the house
one tucked here
another tucked there
among the no-nonsense type of wall adornments
that it likes.
Oh I know you might think I'm crazy
talking about the personalities of my houses
their likes and dislikes
but I think most women know what I mean.
Music Playing: Piano Roll Blues
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