Rearranging Chairs

My house is still a work in progress as I still find myself looking at my furniture and thinking, "That would be better in...," another bedroom, the living room, or the family room. Sometimes I even find I need more furniture. During a party on Saturday I watched my brother-in-law set his beer on the windowsill only because there wasn't a small table where it was needed at the end of the couch where he was sitting. I'll be looking for one today.

One thing I've always known is that I needed a large painting for one of the walls in my bedroom. I'm not a couch-art type of person so I've been looking, almost since the day we moved in, for the right piece and last week I found it. On Friday a friend and I were touring consignments shops in Fort Collins when I found a landscape tucked behind a chair in one of the stores. That store had an interesting policy of giving each item a series of prices which dropped the longer the item stayed in the store before selling. The price of the painting was a little high for me but I noticed it was due to drop to what I thought was a reasonable price on the 5th of March. I was willing to gamble that the painting would still be there on the following Tuesday since it was almost completely concealed by the chair. On Saturday I started worrying. On Sunday night I had the feeling I shouldn't wait any longer, that I should just pay the higher price and go get the painting the next day.

On Monday morning I woke to a beautiful day with blue skies and sunshine. The forecast predicted a fast moving snowstorm moving though the area soon but I figured it wouldn't be too bad. I was wrong and actually drove into the storm as it moved down the Interstate from Wyoming. The closer I got to Fort Collins the worse it became but I kept plowing forward thinking the roads were too warm to let the snow stick and I was right. What I did not expect was the fog and whiteout conditions. I thought, at several points, that I should turn around and head home but instead I kept going even though visibility was less than 1/4 mile and I was feeling anxious about the whole thing. I kept going, driving slowly and carefully, staying in the right lane and letting all the fools speed by me in the left. When I got to the Fort Collins exit the snow and fog was at its thickest but by the time I reached the store the fog had lifted and big beautiful flakes were slowing drifting down. The storm had turned into a winter wonderland.

I walked into the empty store, said hello to the owner, walked back to where I hoped the painting still sat and sighed with relief. I picked the painting up and walked back to the front of the store. The owner laughed and then said I sure knew what I was looking for. I agreed and set the painting down where she could see. She looked at it, looked at me and asked if I was the person who she had talked to earlier about the painting. I wasn't and I then understood why I had the compulsion to drive to the store during a snowstorm and to keep going even when I really wanted to turn back. As she wrapped the painting up I remarked that if I had waited a day I would have paid less. She waved me off saying she would sell it to me for the lower price. I was delighted and thanked her warmly.

The kicker to all this is I managed to drive right into the thick of the storm on my way home but this time I had no fear. I had my painting and all was right in my the world.