Grandma's House

Grandma's House

My most distinct childhood memories are at my Grandma Darlene's house, a quaint trailer on the edge of Anderson. Grandma lives near the end of a tiny little dirt road and has lived there for more than thirty years. We can barely get through the door because there are mountains and mountains of boxes, clothes and barrels filled with who knows what. At the bottom of all that there is a fairly large wooden rocking bench, my great uncle made right before his wife died. Cushioning these layers upon layers of junk is a nasty, old, mated scrap of carpet. The carpet is a burnt orange, calico color that has been stepped on and had people's shoes wiped off on more times than a welcome mat. Bordering the side of the porch is a barbecue from what looks like it is from the 1950's. It's all charred and where the black paint once was now is a thick coating of orange rust. In the corners there are millions of spiders that have taken up residence.

Once we conquered the spiders and climb over the massive piles of boxes, we open the spring loaded door and the smell of coffee and burning wood rushes over us. As we entered the living room we traveled back in time, to an old yet still messy Victorian house. In front of the door the floor is tile; four or five of the tiles are broken where my Papa dropped a hammer years ago. As we move deeper into the living room the floor changes to a gray carpet with yellow and brown stains in many different places. The big windows are draped with large lacey curtains and doilies surround the coffee table and all the sides' tables. We bounce down on a blue floral couch and set our stuff on the oak wood coffee table that is less than ten inches from our shins. Beneath this table there are golden pots that contain artificial flowers. In between these flower is porcelain goose that is chipped in many places. To the left is a very old, broken, dark brown piano. In the far corner we find a fireplace where my cousin and I cuddle up by in the winter. On the wall near the fireplace is a kerosene lantern filled half way with orangey red goo. Behind the fire, the wall is cemented will large rocks of all different shapes. There is a T.V. on the far wall the only gets two channels. Long antennas stick out of it like ears on a rabbit. On top of the T.V. stand my grandma has boat loads of knick-knacks that she has collected over the years.

Between the door and the television there is a large arch that goes into the dining room. We almost trip over the millions of boxes that cross our path. In the middle of the room is a matching round to go with the coffee table. Above the table is an extremely hideous chandelier that hasn't been dusted in ages. Some people have one miscellaneous drawer; my grandma has four beneath her china cabinet. Under the window on the back wall is an old sewing machine that uses a petal to make to run. Next to the machine there is a book case filled with hundreds of cook books.

Down a small three foot long hallway is my Cousin Ashley's room. Her room is the messiest and nastiest room in the world. There are mountains of dirty and clean clothes stacked everywhere and a liter box in the corner for her Chihuahua named Buffy. Ashley's room is about the sized of a large closet and her bed takes up 2/3 of the space.