One Foot Out the Door . . . a cautious guide to commitment

On Thinking Big

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UPS just delivered my new refurbished Cuisinart toaster with four slots. Earlier this month, I bought a king-sized bed. In my kitchen is a Viking commercial refrigerator that dwarfs the 17.6 oz container of Greek yogurt inside. The massive burners of the Viking gas stove look as if they could melt my charming little tea kettle with the harmonica whistle. Judging by the scale of things in my new apartment, you might think I was expecting company.
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Ever since I left Colorado for San Francisco, then NYC, I’ve been committed to shrinkage. Well, maybe it started even earlier, when I first started writing for a living and wanted to see how little I could spend each month. And despite the fact that I had a 400 sq foot studio and shared an 1800 sq foot house with my ex, surrounded by fresh air and pines outside of Boulder, there was always too much stuff. And I just spent the last six years living in two rooms that couldn’t have totaled more than 300 square feet. I became a regular at the Housing Works donation desk.

At 800 square feet, my new apartment isn't large by Colorado standards, but it seems to have ignited the "big thinking" lobe of my brain. Or maybe the reverse is true. But I do know that if I plan to use more than one slot of the new toaster, I’ll need a little furniture to offer to my guest(s). I hear the Brooklyn Flea Market is the place to shop.

There are other novel things about my newly expanded perspective. For one, I didn't know what seems to be common knowledge that the top floors of steam-heated buildings in NYC are overheated. If I don’t keep my windows open all day, the temperature is too warm to sleep at night. And with all the light from five unobstructed windows, I can see exactly how much NYC dirt comes in through open windows. If that’s what’s landing on my floor, how much goes into my lungs? Some realities of NYC life might better be kept in the dark.

posted by Karen @ 11:21 AM