Shelf Life

Even Thomas Babington, the 1st Lord Macaulay, and 19th century British essayist was familiar with, and indeed wrote about," the dust and silence of the upper shelf." Most of us are familiar with that dust. I most certainly am. And not only on the uppers!



And for collectors, as we almost all are, shelf life is a way of life. How many shelves do you have? And what is on them? Most of mine are filled with vintage inspirations of one kind or another. Some are on their way (eventually) to my shop, and others are for inclusion in some future creation.



Shelving is one of the very first items of furniture needed for setting up house. So much so that in America, with our great wealth of personal property, a lot of it is now built in, albeit with cupboard doors on.



You have your type A's like Charles Lamb, an even earlier British essayist, who craved order on his bookcases, and referred to Two Races of Men, one of which whom were "borrowers of books--those mutilators of collections, spoilers of the symmetry of shelves, and creators of odd volumes." Well, I don't loan books either.



And what DID Emily Dickinson mean exactly when she wrote this?

I cannot live with you--
It would be Life--
And Life is over there--
Behind the Shelf--

There's a lot going on with my shelves. Sometimes it's just me thinking out loud.



Some objects stay where they are until something besides dust grows on them, or they change locations almost minute to minute.

It just depends on their shelf life!

Thanks for stopping by! Ciao! for now!

Jacqueline

I'm linking to Debra's first Vintage Inspiration Friday Party, Cindy's Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday, Color Outside the Lines for Vignette Friday, Bargain Hunting and Chatting With Laurie for Favorite Things Saturday, and Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special, and House in the Roses for Show off Your Cottage Monday!