An essay on various topics of varying interest pulled from various musings from varying states of being

Dear Reader.
I would like to introduce you to a red leafed acer palmatum, planted in the front garden of a brown-brick townhouse. The building itself is not relevant in our current musings, although it would be worth mentioning that it is not a ‘town-house’ as such. It certainly has the appearance of one, but is in fact more akin to the headquarters of a tribe of busy ants.

The Acer Palmatum was carefully selected from a number of candidates, went through a vigorous interview process, and finally landed itself a job as the main occupier of unconscious thought in my head, after it was plucked from its nice snug pot and landed itself in a hole in the ground of the front garden. Rather unwittingly, I might add, and it protested for the first six months by way of letting the summer sun singe off all its red leaves.

I do believe it has grown to quite like its new position as Chief thing-that-i-think-about-every-day-without-fail however, as shown by the fact that every year it finds some newfangled way to keep me on its toes. Almost endearing, if it wasn't so worrying all the time.

Cousin It, indeed.

In other world news, I have recently discovered that BMW made a model of car called 2002 in 1973, the seats of which are padded – not with polyurethane foam or latex as you might presume (a notion which I certainly did presume) but are, if you investigate further, constructed almost entirely of coconut fiber. 

Of course, coconut fiber isn't a unique material in the realm of upholstery at all – it is in fact often seen in old chairs as a seat base on top of those nasty metal springs, to smooth things over for a more pleasant sitting experience. 

Nevertheless, it had never crossed my mind to consider that such a thing would obviously be applied in all arms of upholstery, including automobiles.

Now that an introduction has been given, let me expand on our situation in the lead up to my question; by introducing you, my dear reader, to Calvin.

Calvin is a BMW model 2002, made in 1973, with a bright orange complexion, a cabriole haircut, and along with his original upholstery is also the proud owner of 2 front seats and 2 back seats, the insides of which are coconut fiber. Marvelous stuff, well and truly!

He was adopted by a young woman in the 90s, fresh off the plane from the US and looking for any possible way to rebel against convention, who’s first port of call was to purchase the most unusual second hand car from a newspaper advertisement she could. (And what a funny coincidence it would be if it was a complete opposite to the kind of car which her father had set about convincing her to buy, straight off the production line. Who would have thought!)

Calvin, of course, was a loyal and faithful companion for a long time, until the day when Australian regulation put in place special requirements for the securing of childrens car seats when driving with an infant. 

It was then that she gave in and bought the fresh-of-the-production-line car, which was equipped to meet standard regulations for childrens car seats.

And so, the loyal steed was left to rest in retirement, in the dusty garage of the previously mentioned father of a now conventional-car-driving rebel. 

That is, until the child (who no longer needed to comply with childrens car seat regulations) was gifted a driving license after recently returning from the US, and was looking for a convenient way to throw a big orange middle finger up at suit-wearing car salesmen, and the bogans who zoom around in shiny vintage cars, all in one hit.

Funny how things so often come full circle. 

And now, dear reader, comes the crux of the entire story – the most important deliberation, the great question.

Both of our options have their own merits to consider, not the least of which are time and money, which are in short supply these days. 

But both are entirely plausible. With a gentle set of hands and some patience, I believe even the original upholstery will be able to be saved, which would be absolutely wicked.

And so, our question goes like this:

should his insides be redone in foam, giving in to convention and convenience for the sake of progress?

Or should his springs be re-webbed, filled and shaped with new coconut fiber, and returned to their former glory by way of old, dated, and time-consuming methods. 

I implore you to carefully consider my propositions before you reach your own conclusion. 

And I hope that perhaps, we might learn something from our musings over the question. 

After all, I have delved so deeply into the complex meaning one can attach to each of our choices, I am not even sure of the correct path any more.

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Now I turn, dear reader, to yet another set of musings of great magnitude: The Practical Art of Furniture – which you will unfortunately have to consider with me another time, as it is raining and my beloved Acer Palmatum is looking very happy in the dampness with its new spring leaves, so I am going to go outside and have a chat with it.

Thank you for listening to this chapter of rambling thoughts, and may your saplings grow ever stronger and taller towards the sun.

ToBeContinued

-for lilith