I’ve been feeling a bit like these old rockers that have been on our front porch for about 30 years.  I have spent many hours here on these comfortable wooden rocking chairs, watching the neighborhood, listening to lawnmowers in late afternoons and crickets in the evening.  I love things made of real wood, natural and solid, but, like my tired body, these chairs have worn out and they don’t look so great anymore.  Sadly, it’s time to retire them, maybe to the pool area out back.

Today I found a comfortable replacement at Costco.  These new chairs are made of some sort of pressed plastic material that won’t fade or weather or wear out, EVER.  I feel like I’m trading the real thing for something man-made, but something that will outlive me.  It makes me a little sad to think that someday I will also be traded out.  I feel like old wood that isn’t always as valued as it once was.

Now they’re telling us our home’s wooden shake singles have to go–they won’t insure our roof anymore–it’s a fire hazard.  We must replace the natural with fake man-made materials.  We’ve been looking at 100s of roofs to decide what kind of product we like.  I don’t like any of them.  I like the wooden shingles.  This is going to be a hard adjustment.  It’s feeling the the end of the wooden generation, which is MY generation.  In time, we will all be replaced.  I am feeling sad about that.