I don’t know much about furniture. It’s simply one of those things that’s never mattered much to me. It’s odd to me that some people spend thousands of dollars on fancy sofas, coffee tables, and TV stands. Sure, some couches are prettier than others. Same for coffee tables. But really, a $10 wooden chair essentially does the same thing as a $250 “Everett Acrylic Swivel Desk Chair” sold by Haynes (which, by the way, is having a sale). I’m sure I could write just as well at a $657.00 “Aspenhome Oxford Peppercorn Writing Desk” as I can at my $40.00 fold out table from Wal-Mart. I think furniture senselessness is sort of similar to vehicle senselessness. A $40,000 Lexus SUV has the same function as a $10,000 Honda Fit. But whatever, people have their tastes. Heck, this is being written by a woman who paid $1500 for a dog (ask me any day and I’d pay way more than that for him).

As an adult, I don’t think I’ve ever purchased a piece of furniture from an actual furniture store. We still sleep with our mattress on the floor. This is largely because I’m afraid of falling out of the bed – it’s an easier fall without a box frame hoisting me up into the air. Richard made our nightstands. We did splurge on our sofa and TV stand, which we got at Costco. I’m told we got good deals on them.  Anyway, I really don’t see the point in spending a lot of money on furniture.

Lawn furniture is a thing too. I admire all the lovely decorative pillows in the lawn section at Home Depot, but I can’t bring myself to spend $20 on a pillow that’s bound to become faded by the sun and tarnished by bird excrement. But now that spring has come, I’ve really been enjoying sitting in the backyard to read and write. We bought some Adirondack chairs a few years back. They’re plastic, light brown/beige, sit low, and recline just a little. I really like to put one across from me so I can stretch my legs out. It’s nice to be comfy when outdoors.

Just as I’m not into furniture, it’s a good thing I don’t care about keeping up with the Joneses. My neighbor Mary invited me over so my dog Billy and her dog Hal could play. They’re good friends. When I got into Mary’s backyard, I noticed sitting pristinely there were two dark gray chairs. Mary sat in hers and then pointed a few feet away and invited me to sit across from her in the other chair.

“These are nice,” I told her, as I sat, rubbing my hands over the plastic armrests.

“Yeah, these are called ‘Big Easys,’ Mary said, smiling. The tan gardening cap on her head complemented our gathering in her green-grassed backyard on that warm March evening. “I was online one night and saw a pop-up add for one of these and I clicked on it.”

“Sucker,” I said.

“Haha, yes,” she said. “They were $34.99 each, not on sale, but there was no shipping fee because they were in stock locally. They’re perfect, because they sit higher than the normal Adirondacks and they can hold up to 350 pounds. She accentuated this feature of the Big Easy as she pointed to her waistline. Mind you, Mary is far from 350 pounds. “And, they come with these nifty swivel-out cup holders,” she demonstrated as she flicked her fingers out from beneath her right armrest, revealing a circular hollow cup holder. “It wasn’t my birthday or a holiday or anything, but you know what, I bought two of them and said, ‘Happy birthday, Mary.’”

“Well that’s great. They’re comfortable. I like that they sit up a little higher,” I said.

They also felt more sturdy than the typical Adirondacks. Mary told me that the new chairs replaced the ones that sat along her garage. I looked behind me to see two stacked chairs on the side of her garage. They were the proverbial American lawn chairs, cream-colored and plastic, lightweight. They sat forlorn in the shadows, like a child’s once favorite toy that had been forgotten.

“Looks like you really upgraded,” I told Mary.

“Oh yeah.”

The dogs, a 94-pound Golden Retriever and a 30-pound Australian Shepherd, ran circles around us as we sat and conversed in our Big Easys. Even when they slammed into us, we were safe in our Big Easys. It was like surfing in a sea of dogs. I’ve got to say, I like the Big Easys, but I’m pretty sure I could surf just as well in my old $18 classic low-riding Adirondacks. Even when it comes to lawn chairs, my frugality presides. ~