The bench is finished.
More Top Picks Dizziness And Vision After A Concussion Whats Connected
Yes, the Boston Marathon of home-improvement projects, the Tour de France of built-in seating, the Olympics of amateur woodworking, has been completed.
The actual installation of the L-shaped bench in a kitchen corner took place months ago, in a ceremony awash in the scents of polyurethane, sawdust and intramarital contention.
But, like many home improvement projects, this one spawned a series of subprojects. There was the trim to be cut and nailed in place, the kids’ games to be stuffed into the underseat storage space, and, naturally, the repainting of the surrounding walls to better show off the bench.
That’s done now, too. And just like the bench, which we wrote about here earlier this year, we’re bringing our version of the column to completion.
We entered this space as replacement workers for Barbara Brotman as she and her family went off on the midlife adventure of a journalistic fellowship.
Now, in what is either irony or coincidence, we leave it to head off on an academic excursion of our own. Louise was awarded a Nieman Fellowship to spend the academic year at Harvard University, where both the fellow and spouse can take courses and our family foursome will squeeze into a wee apartment.
Setting aside concerns about personal space, we are, of course, looking forward to learning new things, living in a new place and meeting new people, all without the potential trauma of permanently moving or changing jobs.
But what we are really looking forward to, in the next couple of weeks, is finishing up all the necessary packing, stepping into the minivan and, as the smokestacks of Gary fade from our rear-view mirror, really being able to feel that the adventure has begun.
It follows on the heels of another one.
Taking over someone’s column is a little like moving into her house. You might move a vase or two or tuck away some throw pillows but, mostly, you just try not to mess up the place.
In the 10 months that we have substituted for Barbara, some walls may have gotten scuffed. A good number of the neighbors may have wished the owner would return and put an end to the tenants’ jangling wind chimes or indifferent lawn maintenance.
But, for us, at least, this has been great fun, made all the more so by the quality of readers the section already had (the kind of readers who see through it but still like it when writers pander to them). It has been a privilege engaging in the spirited conversation that columnists can conduct with those people who still buy newspapers.
For the folks who can’t stand loose ends, we’ll try to tie up a few.
Our older son’s T-ball team, the Mariners, played for the league championship. More important, Conor learned to catch, throw and be a good sport, and he had the incredible luck of getting the most patient, encouraging set of coaches a parent could hope for. The bad news: There’s almost nowhere to go in organized sports but down.
The minivan we finally bought, after much persuasion by Steve, is performing admirably at both its tasks: schlepping the family around crisply and making sure its drivers have the sex appeal of a jelly bean.
A few other, randomly selected updates: Carbohydrate-reduction continues to be overhyped, Barbie’s new boyfriend has failed to take Toyville by storm, marriage remains as sacred an American institution as the likes of Britney Spears can make it, “panties” is still a dirty word, and, perhaps most important, the intimate medical procedure that began our turn at this column remains fully effective.
And, while there was good reason to fear a husband-wife column could devolve into something painfully cutesy, we’re immensely proud that we achieved our main goal: never becoming nearly as insufferable as the journalistic team of Kevin Bacon and Elizabeth Perkins in “He Said, She Said.”
As for the bench, which she said was taking too long and he said needed time to be done right, it has, as planned, made our kitchen much more usable and attractive.
It’s also meant–law of unintended consequences–that at mealtime, our 3-year-old, Declan, now stands up, slides around and eats less. As the nice family who’ll be renting our house decides whether they need to add a seat belt, we’ll be busy figuring out our courses.
Do they teach woodworking at Harvard?
More Top Picks Best Upright Vacuum