Lamps

When Polly and I moved in to the duplex we worked hard to fill it with our things -- not "fill" as in "spread out," which was easy enough, but "fill" as in "comfortably occupy." New couch, new bookcase, new desks & PC & futon... those were the big things. Still the place lacked balance. It was missing some critical element that made our disfunctional collection of Things fit together into a Home.

Then Polly bought a second side table for the living room, and put our other lamp on it.

The living room has no overhead light, and had until then been lit by just the one lamp, weakly, in the corner where the new couch met our old bookcase. With the other lamp diagonally opposite the room balanced perfectly -- soft light spread to every corner and softly touched every Thing, every disfunctional piece of all our stuff, with warm amber light.

Now the living room is easily the most comfortable room in our house. It is filled with books, carpet, and soft surfaces and has become our destination location of choice. The sofa is also a bed. The footstool is also a tray-table. The bookshelves are also photo albums, and the lamps -- those lamps are also our Home.