What lies beneath the surface

This was the last glimpse of the sun, I had before the acid rains of Korea moved in over the weekend. A rain that seemed to keep me inside working on another project, and tend to the mundane details of general housekeeping. The seemingly ordinary act of cleaning that somehow just relaxed me and put me in a different mindset that allowed me to rest mentally so the words could flow when I sat down to the task of writing. I will confess another thing, the Internet has become a huge distraction. A time waster. Though social networking is deemed a necessity, there is nothing like the contact of actual human beings. So I pulled myself away from my computer, packed up my bag to brave the acid rain and to gather my thoughts like a storm cloud.

I went to the one place where everyone gave excuses for not going to and I bought into it for a time...Outback Steakhouse. The excuses primarily focused around price and selection. What I found was a place I did not have to order wine by the bottle...I could actually get just 'a glass' and the prices were fair. However there was a bonus I did not expect. The menus were in English and the wait staff spoke English. There was no game of pictionary...I felt for a moment settled in and I pulled out my notebook and began to write, the old fashioned way, with pen and paper.

This caused me to think about just having a writer's desk. Adorned just with the basic needs. My laptop, and the associated clutter would remain on the other table...but my desk would be where I would work. I pushed the thought aside as I began my walk home.

As I neared my home in the rain and darkness of the night I looked over to the trash collection point and noticed a table that had still not been picked by the refuse collectors. Over the course of a few weeks, the table had been accompanied by a pair of matching chairs. The chairs were gone and the table remained. I had looked at the table that had layers of contact paper laid over the surface. The top layer had a middle eastern motif that was childlike and gaudy. Still, I stood there...just looking and thinking how expensive wood is here in Korea.

I started to examine the table legs, no splits and just a slight wobble and the dirt could be washed off. Still the table top was repellent, that is until I caught the corner and lifted off the film to reveal the honey wood that was underneath. This table sat for two weeks waiting for someone to peel back the layers...until the beauty of what was underneath was revealed.

Indeed, it was quite the find. A few gouges in the wood, a rippling of old varnish that can easily be sanded down and refinished...but what a personality.