WHERE I WORK

I don’t have my computer table in an airy loft with big windows through which I can see treetops swaying in the wind...the golden glory of our backyard maple in autumn...or feel gentle breezes wafting in with the music of songbirds in summer. My library/office isn’t flooded with natural light during the daytime. The place where I work is down under—down under the first floor in the basement of my house.

When I retired from my school library position in 2004 and brought all my children’s books home, my family and I were overwhelmed in a sea of book bins and boxes. They were in the kitchen, the TV room, the living room, and the bedrooms. The dining room looked like a warehouse. We had to do something. The cost of adding on another room would have been prohibitive--so we decided to build a library/office in the space that we had available.

It took quite a long time to bring my room to life. My niece’s husband, who is a licensed engineer, built “my space” for me when he wasn’t working on other projects. I didn’t mind: He was the best! My room turned out even better than I had expected. It’s got built-in bookshelves, a wooden floor, and a dehumidifier and air conditioner. (I rarely have to use the air conditioner.)

The room is so inviting and spacious that we now have our Thanksgiving dinners down here!

Maybe you’d like a little tour!

Here's a portion of the staircase
and
two of my shelves of poetry books.

This is the view from the bottom of the stairs. Here you can see my long work table that's usually covered with piles of books, my computer table, and two more shelves of poetry books. That's my cat Abby. I guess she wanted to be included in the photo.

Here's the alcove under the stairs. You can bet that there's a lot of "stuff" hidden away under the staircase.

Here's another view of my computer table. I'm sorry you can't see the snazzy pink-framed sunglasses and the rubber chicken on top of my computer. They were part of the prize I won in a Three Silly Chicks blog contest last December. The major award was a tin of yummy chocolate and peppermint bark that I ate all by myself--thank you very much!

Above the smaller bookcase with doors, you can see one of my most prized possessions: an original painting done by Grace Lin for the book ONE IS A DRUMMER.