It's A Long Way to Temporary

Didn't have much planned for today. We both had stuff to mail and since it wasn't raining we walked to the post office, a little more than 6 miles round trip.



That got us hungry and we eagerly ate reheated soup, crackers, and cheese for lunch. Simple food so good.


A pretty sincere nap followed, accompanied by the cats, all four of us abed on a winter afternoon. Wiped the sleep from our eyes around 3:35 and it didn't look like much was going to get done today, but we had more or less vowed to move fridge from garage to kitchen, so we did....


That triggered more actions. I installed a fold down countertop and Sarah transferred the ad hoc cooking station from the living room. Today was one of those days where we focused on quality of life improvements versus repairs and construction. Having a sink and fridge in the same room brings us well into the 20th century, the miraculous dawning of mechanical domestic convenience.


There's much to do before we lay down the permanent finish floor, but we had those cheap vinyl planks left over from living room subfloor exploration, so I snapped them together in the kitchen to protect bare plywood and reduce drafts, especially along the edge where I left intact the section of shiplap that goes under the wall.


I hadn't intended to take the vinyl this far, but it was there so why not use it all? It's tacky stuff but it's better than nothing. Working for a client, I'd obsess if one of these were off by an eighth of an inch, but here I gleefully leave weird gaps because that's all there is to work with.

It's temporary, we tell ourselves, slap it together in quick but considered fashion, minus the stress of aspiring to perfection. It's an unsettled aesthetic of asymmetry and rough edges, whispered hints and promises. It says, "Don't bother. Tomorrow could be better, but today ain't half bad."

The missing floorboards at right are now on the left. It was not planned.

When does temporary become permanent, anyway? It took Sarah's parents 7 years to finish their bedroom ceiling. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. And if temporary is good enough, why finish?

 
Forever is just the procession of days.




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