living small

Chris estimates we have 24 square feet in Popi. Maybe 26 he says. That doesn’t include the 2 enormous beds on either end of the pop-up, or our table area. Our one couch is usually covered in bags and books, but we are able to leave the middle part empty with some effort. Our 2 counters are covered by milk crates filled with food, a stack of 4 plastic storage drawers of dry goods, and Chris’s towering metal shelf that houses our ghetto blaster, towels, books, Baby (our sourdough starter that lives in a 2 quart casserole dish), and the mother load of all STUFF.

Our square footage shrinks as we unpack more. The first few days are always fine. Then STUFF happens. Books come out of bags, and the storage containers in the car become volcanoes of art, shells, journals, and knick knacks, all slowly migrating into our square footage.

Then there are the fans. So far we have made it with 2 small Vornado fans, one facing each bed. For a surprise, Cassidy, Teslin, and Chris bought an enormous rotating fan. Its base takes up the entire walking area in front of the sink (that’s 4 of the 24) and it stands 5 feet high. It’s Iowa size. Only Chris would think that we could actually fit it into this place. But oooooo does it move air! Now at night, the kids each have a fan and we have the big Kahuna blowing on us. We’ve all slept better and it’s great for hot flashes. In the daytime, we move things off one end of a counter and put it up there so no one catches their privates in it.

We have a morning and evening rotation ritual. Evenings, we uncover our beds from the myriad of things that have accumulated there. The guitar, computers, and our ocean size wooden fruit bowl all make this voyage. In the morning, everything that spent the night on the table and the benches is moved back onto the beds so we can sit down.

Another rotation ritual is to open and close the inside stove. We do most of our cooking on the outside stove, but morning tea is produced inside---very important. When the stove is closed, it offers almost 2 whole square feet of counter space, so it’s well worth the effort. Each morning it’s filled with various water jugs, dirty dishes, and the usual left behind things from the night before.

There is a bright side to this life of rotation…..it keeps the inch long cock roaches on the move. This morning when we moved a milk crate off the bench, a big honking cock roach fell out onto the table. Chris pounced on it like a cat, but was forced to have mercy on it by Cassidy and Teslin, who insisted he let it go by the dumpster where it can lead a happy life. Ahh yes. Live and let live.

Anny