There are twenty one windows in our old, old house
and they all have wide sills. In some of the rooms that means, especially for
dear husband, more shelf space. This is especially true of the one in the
kitchen. That window is ten feet long with a truly admirable sill. The back
door is right next to the window so naturally that sill is a great place to
store anything the man may need on his
way out. Or in. Like flashlights, two of them, keys, notes to self, his staple
gun and once in a while a wrench.
The kitchen counter where I prepare yummy good
stuff to eat faces that window. It looks out on our couple of acres and smack
in the middle of that sill is a cute little jam pot I picked up at a tag sale. It
takes up about four inches of sill space. That’s my share. On occasion this poor
little pot will shout at me that the flashlights are acting up again or the
keys are winking at her. I pick her up, wash her face and tell her it will be
alright. I promise to talk to the man and he’ll tell everyone to behave. So peace
descends until the next dust up.
Then there are the sills that get drenched in a
sudden thunderstorm. You should hear them scream. It's just water. Bunch of wimps. But I quick grab a
towel to dry them off as I drag the windows down. I’m aghast at all the dirt
that comes away on that towel. Sometimes there’s a dead ladybug, little feet up, or the dried
corpse of a stink bug that must be dealt with, too. Ugh. I apologize to the
sills and they seem content to have been attended to at last.
It’s summer so three portable air conditioners sit
on three sills in three rooms. Hubby packs all around the units with rescued
pieces of wood and old packing foam. Adds a nice third world touch to the décor
of those rooms and I’m thinking of doing a photo essay that Better Homes and
Gardens will surely snap up. Surely.
I was in a friend’s kitchen over the weekend and
noticed her sill as I helped clean up the kitchen after a small birthday
celebration. Oh, my. All kinds of cool stuff sat there. Tiny potted plants, a
ceramic figurine, something that looked like a pin cushion. I mentioned my
kitchen window sill and she steered my attention to the end of a counter where
her own dear husband “stores” all the
things he’ll need for the day. She let out a sigh and I smiled empathetically.
No further discussion was necessary.
Windows are awesome things. They let in light to
brighten our days and help provide a steady income stream for Windex. Whoever
invented them should get a federal commendation and an excellent health care
plan. But the genius who thought up the sill? Those things could really mess up your
home life so the jury’s still out on that one.
Image: Free Digital Photos
