That Cherry Walnut!

Cozy Corner Dream

If I was a home owner my cozy corner would be my customized basement which I would have high ceilings and turn into an arcade bar with a theatre. I dream of Emser Marble Breccia Oniciata tiled heated floors and textured red and beige damask wallpaper. I’d like two red and gold velvet chaise lounges on each side of the stairwell upon entering. However, I don’t want regular stairs I want a spiral escalator. From start to finish when you walk in to reaching the other side of the basement I want installed ceiling speakers with decent bass, maximum sound and the least harmonic distortion. I want LED light to trim the ceiling and the floor and an antique red and brown wooden air hockey, ping pong, pool table with cool floating shelves for sculptures. I want a Samsung 98" Class 8K UHD (4320p) HDR Smart LED-LCD TV with reclining massage chairs with food trays arrayed in three rows of four each elevated more than the next on each side of a hot tub with disco lights. Enough dreaming though, it was nice while it lasted!

Top 3 Narrowed

My favorite three places in my home are the bathtub, my studio booth and the dining room. If you'd ask me to choose my absolute favorite I would say that my favorite place is the dining room, not because I love food either. The dining room is a special place to me because of that cherry walnut wooden dining room table that sits in the center. My mother has had that same table since I was 11 years old or even younger. When I look at that table I think of the times my great grandparents were alive. It was a time my family behaved and set their differences aside. It was a time when people reached out and invited you to birthdays, barbecues and trips to the beach during the summer. Every now and then I look at the chairs and sometimes I picture their smiles. I picture my great-grandmother listening to my little cousin’s stories deeply inhaling as her mouth opens wide to display her excitement and interest in such boring matters. I picture my great-grandfather and his silence nodding and smiling to everything as if he doesn't understand English. I picture my little cousins running back and forth across the floor behind the table as my grandmother tells them to take a seat. I picture my parents and aunts playing cards and drinking Heinekens while my cousins my age and I would find some video game to play or something to watch to occupy our time. Anytime there is an event at the house during the fall or winter months the dining room table is the spot to go. When there is not a feast or in-depth conversation going on there I turn it into my personal desk to write in my journal, to use my laptop, to paint or to draw. It is my cozy corner!

Quality of the People

It is not the place that makes the people. It is the people that make the place. You can have a mansion and a bunch of people. You can have a small space with few people. It is the quality of the people within the mansion and the small space. If the people in the mansion are refusing to eat free pizza, chips and vodka offered because they are used to champagne and clams guaranteed the event won’t be much fun. They are judgmental and stuck up. If the people in the small space are being open, socializing and dancing not worrying about brand names, marital statuses, occupations, residences and skin color it is likely the event will be an enjoyable one. They are kind, free-spirits. One day when I do get my cozy corner dream I hope to fill it with such people.

Bonds

Family does not just mean blood relation. Family is a bond. Family are those who you have formed a bond with or connected with on some level. Overtime family does not ever fade no matter how many years pass by without speaking. Upon reuniting that bond still exists even though a person changes and that, that is your family. As I look back on the good memories of my family that is of blood relation the more I realize many have chosen to stay out of touch for whatever reason over time. I see clear as day that who you call family and who you chose to spend your time with is a conscious choice. People choose who they want to include in their lives and if someone decides to include you and you form a bond don’t let that go so easily. Just because I call my dining room my cozy corner, really, anywhere your family is should be your cozy corner. Remember it is not the place that makes the people.