Every Writer’s Office Needs a Cat and a Weeping Chair
Some place I’ve written about the fact that many writers need cats to help them get their work done. MzTiz right now is in a snit because she thinks we’re moving again. We’re not, but I used boxes to unload the bookcase in the living room so I could move it to the office, and am now awaiting the delivery of matching book cases. (She just came back in and seems reassured that the old book case has simply been moved to a different room.)
Which brings me to the subject of weeping chairs. Back when I was messing about with boats a lot, I got to know a wooden boat builder of the old style. One day I asked him about the disreputable looking but comfortable rocking chair he had out in the loft near where most of the measuring, cutting, and fitting went on as he put his famous sail boats together.
“That’s my weeping chair,” he told me with a gleam in his eye. “When something goes badly wrong, and it always will, that’s where I weep. And then I get up and fix what every needs fixing and go right on a-building the boat.”
I determined that when I had an office for my writing, I’d have a weeping chair, for it’s not only in the building of wooden boats that things can go badly wrong. I’ve also discovered it works well for sitting and editing too.
Write well and often,
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7 opinions for Every Writer’s Office Needs a Cat and a Weeping Chair
Liz Fuller
Mar 17, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Anne
I’ve never heard of a “weeping chair” before but I love the idea!! What a great story - I can just picture the guy! And now, I’m going to be on the lookout for an appropriate weeping chair - no home office will feel complete without one!!
Liz
Lori
Mar 18, 2008 at 5:40 am
Nice twist at the end, Anne. :))
Good idea! You must train Mz Tiz to use it when she’s upset, too.
Anne Wayman
Mar 18, 2008 at 7:32 am
Thanks Liz!
Lori, actually, I think she does… unless she’s really upset, then she punishes me.
KathleenL
Mar 18, 2008 at 8:30 am
Weeping chair … good idea.
I know many of the quilters I know have a wooden rocker …. I used to have one, although I did not know it was a weeping chair, after all, I can weep anywhere
In my dream office I think a weeping chair is called for. It will make a better spot then the bed to edit in, even if the chair on the porch is great… weather permitting.
Bye-the-bye –
No cats here. Allergic. Used to have them when I lived on the ranch, outside cats mostly. Dogs… my current one is a goofy Boxer who demands as much attention as your cat (I’m allergic to her too). But my favorite writing buddies have been my horses, sitting out in the pasture with my horse and editing or writing. My ex-husband said I’d get a lot more riding done if I put my laptop on my saddle. Me thinkith he was right.
Anne Wayman
Mar 18, 2008 at 9:36 am
Horses! I hadn’t thought of horses as writing buddies, but now that you mention it, it makes sense.
Kathleen L
Mar 22, 2008 at 4:24 am
Writing buddies come in all shapes and sizes.
And I have been lucky enough, and blessed from above, to have had horses get under my skin.
Don’t get me wrong… I have had a couple of dogs and a couple of cats that I can remember who have brought me comfort and I can write about… but my horses, their complexities, their quiet, comforting companionship, for me, tops the animal world on my list as writing buddies. They are as soothing as the wind at sunset blowing through one’s hair off of the main sail of a 30 footier, and all that that entails.
Anne Wayman
Mar 24, 2008 at 11:29 am
Yes, they can be… I grew up with horses and am still fond of them.
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