Tuesday, August 5, 2014

The Dip in the Floor

If you've ever lived in an older home, you know the slightly uneven floors, the dips, the creaks, the small imperfections that come with age.  I like the charm and fun of starting a little ball at the top of the floor and letting it roll down the incline and watching the cats and kids chase after it, with laughter and skittering claws playing chase together.  You learn by trial and error which way to mop in order to avoid pooling, and you get used to the odds and ends of the home.

We moved into this home almost a year ago now, and so far I've adjusted to the little quirks that come along with a 100 plus year old home.  Sure, the floors slant a little, there's steps that took only once to remember their presence, but there's one place that caught my attention after a while.  It didn't dawn on me until not too long ago as to why it was there...what caused that flaw.

And I think we need more of that particular flaw....

There's a dip in the floor.

 It's located in front of the old fashioned gas stove.

It's one that came about from years of feet standing in front of that old stove.  Those old boards have over the years slowly compacted as the weight of the woman of the house stood over it, creating  countless meals in that one place.  Oh how many hours the women before me must have stood there, stirring soups and stews, frying meats, cooking vegetables, using the canner to put up the season's surplus.

I can picture in my mind's eye women from eras past in their aprons, moving to and fro between the old stove and the old white sink, dashing about as they worked to prepare the family's meals.  I can smell the fried chicken of Sunday dinner after church, with mashed potatoes and gravy and all the fixings.  I can see the meatloaf fresh out of the old oven and sizzling hot, and a pan of gravy up on the burner staying warm and waiting.  I can see a flat griddle in the early morning hours patiently frying pancakes for bleary eyed children.  I can smell the coffee percolating on the back burner for the caffeine needs of cook and husband.

At first, upon moving in, I saw this dip as a small nuisance, mainly due to drying time and the puddle that sits an extra hour or two longer, especially in winter.  As I've discovered a reason for that dip, I've come to appreciate it.  I can handle the extra drying time.

Today in a lot of homes, there's no one there to stand at the stove and stir a pot of soup, to make a goulash, mash potatoes, stir some gravy.  No one is home to pull a loaf of bread from the hot oven.  The stove top becomes dusty, the floor gets no use.  While life was harder back in the years past, with older ways of doing things, less to work with, and so on...one thing could be counted on--mom at home with a hot meal or a batch of cookies, or something freshly made.  When at all possible she was home, tending to home and family, nourishing her husband and children with home cooked meals.

And slowly, one meal, one loaf of bread at a time, one cookie sheet at a time...creating a dip in the floor.



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Shared at:  The Modest Mom, Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth, What Joy Is Mine, Yes They Are All Ours, A Proverbs 31 Wife, Time Warp Wife, Cornerstone Confessions A Wise Woman Builds Her Home So Much At Home



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10 comments:

  1. I love this! I live in a manufactured home that we purchased brand new, but I like the idea of starting to create a dip that one day my granddaughters many stand in and reflect upon the way you are today. Thank you!

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    1. Thank you for your kind words! I've lived in old farm houses most of my life due to being part of a farm family, so I took for granted all those dips and slants as a part of "normal" living. It was just a recent thing for me, after nearly 37 years, that there may be a reason why there's a low spot right in front of the stove...or the sink... This house we started renting last fall is a good 100 years old, and the old family that lived here had been here for decades, until the widow finally had to let the house go, and our landlord bought it. I'm glad to be in the house, dips and all. :)

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  2. I have lived in a couple older houses that had dips and uneven floors and always felt the homes had a history that only the walls cold tell. Now I live in a newer home and at times miss the dips in the floors!

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    1. Me too! Well...except the newer home thing...the newest I've ever lived in was a trailer manufactured in the 1980's... I love the history in these old houses, the stories they could tell, and do tell if you have chance to hit the attics or basements/cold cellars. One old farm house we lived in had the old blue mason jars full fo food, left from around the 1950's or 60's, and still sealed. :)

      LOVE the old houses.

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  3. What a nice way to look at a nuisance. :) There is a charm to the history of an old house and knowing of those who have lived there before... Thank you for posting this. :)

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    1. You're very welcome! Thank you for stopping by!

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  4. I love your descriptive writing. This is a lovely post. Thanks for sharing at somuchathome.blogspot.com!
    God bless,
    Chris

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    1. Thank you very much! And thank you for stopping in. :) Have a great day!

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  5. Lovely post! And so true... It breaks my heart to see all these fancy kitchens with the top of the line appliances and then hear the owner say "they don't really cook"... May we all make dips in our floors... Thanks for sharing on the Art of Home-Making Mondays this week! Please join in again next Monday :)

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  6. Thank you very much! Yes, I've seen pictures of fancy kitchens, but there's no fingerprints on the cabinets and doors, no "character marks" left behind by kids (or messy adult), and no impressions left behind from hours at the sink or stove. Those folks are missing out!

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Your graceful comments are welcome!