Back Where She Belongs...

 When we prepared to return home from Wisconsin, we added about 

four hundred pounds to our load. It was only because of one single item.

 This item has been a focal piece in each of the homes that Handsome

and I have owned during our twenty nine years of marriage. It belonged

to my brother-in-law (Handsome's brother) before it belonged to us.

 It's our antique Persian rug from the 1920's. Our treasure is nearly one hundred 

years old! It's large, too, measuring 21 1/2 feet long, by 10 1/2 feet wide. 

When we originally moved to Florida, we brought it with us, but ended up moving

it back up north. Our son and his wife thought they might use it in a space they

were remodeling. Last fall, they told us they wouldn't be using it so we said we'd

bring it back to Florida with us when we traveled there this summer. It was ready

and waiting for us when we got to Wisconsin, and we loaded it into the back

of our truck before hooking the Flying Cloud up for our trip back home.

We hauled it back fifteen hundred miles and finally unloaded it yesterday.

First we cleared the living room and I vacuumed and scrubbed the tile.

Handsome and I then tackled the unloading of this hefty beauty. We were

a little apprehensive about the process, but we finessed it off the back of

our truck onto a sturdy trolley and wheeled it right into the living room.

The furniture was back in place by noon and we sat down to enjoy the view.

I was surprised by how happy I was to have it again.

Is it "Florida style"? Probably not.

Does that bother us? Definitely not.

Beautiful and useful, one of our family heirlooms...and part of our tradition.

Our beautiful, plush, magic carpet is back in our home where she belongs.

That's what matters to us.