Life Approaching Mile 20

"... for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

(Luke 12:15b)

As that song goes: Playing Solitaire till dawn with a deck of fifty-one... well not quite. Whether or not I was playing with a full deck at the time is debatable, however, my deck had all 52 cards and the odd time I actually played Solitaire did not even last until midnight.

March 1974 Vignette

Shortly after moving into the three-room closet that had become my very first home on my own, my first major purchase was an inexpensive stereo. Having managed to save some money out of the little that was left over after paying the bills, again being able to listen to Beethoven, Mozart and others was a joy. Music was also some relief to lessen what often seemed like endless silence that came from living alone. 

My purchase required a rearrangement of some of the furnishings in order to find a place to put the stereo. The folding table and chair were moved out of the kitchen into the living room and set up to use as a desk. The lamp from the end table was placed on a corner of my new desk. The end table was just the right size for the stereo and speakers. The now empty leftover carton was turned upside down to become my coffee table. 

In the process of moving things around, I gave up sleeping in the bedroom and permanently made the couch my bed so I could listen to music at night. The move was a wise choice because the couch turned out to be more comfortable than the bed. The bed in the bedroom became my place to spread out books, sort and file newspaper clippings as well as any and every other piece of paper that was of an esoteric value. 

In other words, the bed was soon buried with junk.

The Oddblock Station Agent