Monday, December 13, 2010

Old Houses

One of my favorite memories happened in the old house in Staunton. It was early in the morning, I was cold, and I came out of the bedroom and stood on the heater vent in the livingroom. My mother was sitting on the couch and she said, "happy birthday, baby girl."

I remember forgetting that day was my birthday until she said something. All I was worried about was the heat coming from the vent and how good it felt on my cold feet. The house I grew up in in Highland also had forced air heat. I loved standing on the vents and feeling the air flow up my body from the feet up. In fact, I loved the heat so much I can remember camping out on the floor by the vent for nearly an entire winter, sleeping with my head right next to it.

My childhood bedroom window was drafty. Right outside of it was a corner of the house which made the wind sound like a lonely howl. The bathroom was constantly several degrees cooler than the rest of the house, and to describe the basement as freezing would be giving it a compliment.

Later on we remodeled and my bedroom became the living room. There was a fireplace installed and there was a whole new reason to camp out in that room.

The house I live in now has hot water heat and I can honestly say I miss the opportunity of standing on a vent when you hear the heat kick on. The house is much less drafty, but I kind of miss that, too in a strange way. Nostalgia will do that to a girl.

One of my grown up best friends lives in the downstairs apartment of an old farm house. I spend a lot of time at her place with her and her kids. They call me Aunt Destiny and tell me they love me everyday. We have a lot of fun together and create a lot of memories in this old house.

Last night her daughter said, "Destiny, look!" And I saw her hair blowing up as she stood on a running vent. She laughed and I couldn't help but feel her joy.
With the roads being bad and the temperature dipping below freezing, I find myself camping out at my friends house for a few days. I don't mind, though. The company is good and its drafty but the vents just kicked on. So... I gotta go.
*PS... this was written several hours prior to being posted. 

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