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Late this afternoon I did something I haven't done in a long time. When I moved into this hour nearly four years ago, I spent a lot of time in the loft, reading. The light is just right up there in the afternoon, and it's warm in the winter. I've kept the lounge chair that I bought for outside in that room. When I do sit outside, and that's something rare, it's in the plastic patio chairs.
The loft has become a place to store the excess clutter. I didn't plan it that way; it just happened. Some people who know me well knew it would happen. (Actually, a few people who don't know me all that well predicted it, too.) There's a bed in that room that I've slept in once, shortly after I moved in. I didn't like being that far away from the bathroom. It was just inconvenient enough to make me appreciate my own bed and my own room that much more.
In the summer, it's too hot to spend much time in the loft anyway. I got out of the habit of reading by the light of the afternoon sun, and lately I've been doing other things more than reading anyway. But today, on this Sunday that felt more like spring than summer (for a change), I wasn't ready to quit reading when the outside light in my living room started to fade.
It's funny, but that's exactly what I thought at first that I'd have to do. Quit. If there's not enough light, I can't read. Turn on a reading lamp? No, I just don't do that. The glare is harsh, the shadows fall all wrong, or some other petty quibble comes up, and I don't do it.
I brought the floor lamp that I once had in the loft downstairs so I could read more easily at night, but I think I'll take it back up. I don't read downstairs at night, but I might read upstairs after dark. I like that lounge chair, but I don't have room for it downstairs. If I'm not going to bring the comfortable chair to the light, I'll just have to take the light back to the chair.
Today, I didn't stay up in the loft reading for very long. It's still more winter than summer, as far as the sun is concerned. In two weeks we'll switch our clocks around so that we can steal an extra hour of daylight from the early, early morning. I'd much rather have it in the afternoon anyway, for obvious reasons. As the days get longer, I might be spending more time in the loft, reading. That's what I always had in mind for this place, and there's no good reason not to do it. |
