The Subject is Chairs…Rocking Chairs

I almost missed them. Market Days was a fun diversion to walk around the stands and check out all the wares. And, then I found myself taking in the stores around the square, too. These yellow stairs invited me to walk up to the sidewalk and find the Cottonwood Cottage gift shop in our small town. As sticky as a yellow leaf on a cottonwood tree, unable to resist what I might find, I took those stairs.

I followed the yellow stairs right into the Cottonwood Cottage Gift Shop.

Rick and I had been looking for suitable chairs for the back porch that weren’t plastic, aluminum or wood that shows weathering. So when I saw these rocking chairs, I knew I just had to have one. Just one? They were rockers solidly welded and built to last. Sensible me told me to buy one. I hadn’t planned on making this purchase when I had left the house to return books to the library, found Market Days and now this! The thought of two really nagged on me. I really wanted wanted two. His and hers. Jacqueline, the owner, encouraged me to get the second one, but I resisted. “If you put down just $10 on the second one, you can have it if you change your mind,” she assured me.
“No, just one,” I said thinking two would be so nice. “I’ll be back with my husband and the truck so he can try it out and we can pick it up.”
The twenty-something clerk at the cash register chimed in, “I bought two for my fiancé and me. We love them.” Now I was feeling very excited about finding the perfect chair.
When we returned, Rick tried it out. Perfect. Solid. Interesting design. Rusty patina but not rusty. It would be great on the back porch.
“Are we going to get two?” he asked me. Even he was weighing in on two.
“No, just one, is enough,” I insisted.
“Well, let’s drive to Lowe’s and you think about it. I think you’ll want two,” he commented.
Half way to Lowe’s, I had made up my mind. “Yes, I want two. We need two. Just think how nice it would be to be able to sit in chairs that rock to take in the rabbits, squirrels, dragonflies and hummingbirds in summer. Yes, let’s do it. But what if she sells the second one? She only had two. And it’s Market Days. More shopping traffic on this first Saturday in November.”
Quickly we finished our business at Lowe’s and returned to pick up one, hopefully two chairs.
Jacqueline met us at the door. “Jacqueline, please say you still have the second chair. We want to purchase a pair.”
“You’re not going to believe it. Two people came in who wanted those two chairs and I told them they were taken.”
“But I didn’t place anything on the second one.”
“I knew you would want two, so I took a risk and decided for you,” she laughed.

His

and Hers.

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Here’s how others have weighed in on this subject.

“Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.” — Glenn Turner
Oh, but Glenn, I got two chairs!

“Hell, I’m an old man. I’m 70 years old. I’m supposed to be sitting on a rocking chair watching the sunset.” –M. Emmet Walsh
Yep, that’s what Rick was thinking when he encouraged me to get two, not one.

When I’m 80 and sitting in a rocking chair listening to the Rolling Stones, there is absolutely no way I’m going to feel old or forget my younger days. –Patty Duke
You certainly have that right, Patty.

I’ve got too many of my friends that retired and went home and got on a rocking chair, and about a year and a half later, I’m always going to the cemetery. –Red Adair
You don’t know me Mr. Adair, but I do see your point.

Now, I know you expected me to say that, well, I just kick back in the rocking chair, fished a little bit, listened to Willie Nelson tapes and watched old baseball games on the Classic Sports network. And, tell you the truth, I have done that for maybe about five total minutes.–Dan Rather
Oh Dan, I’ve sat for hours on the back porch and have not gotten bored.

A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?–Albert Einstein
You and Patty are kindred spirits, Albert.

The discontented man finds no easy chair.–Benjamin Franklin
2014 is shaping up to be a wonderful year, Ben.

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