The Book Of THoTH

I don't often write about the little things that happen, but this incident seemed too cool to keep hidden so I'm sharing it with you guys.

Sitting at my computer desk since the weather has gotten nippy, I can look to my left and usually see the cats gathered around an electric radiator style heater. The heater sits not four feet from the base of the stairway that leads to my loft, and against the side of that stairway sits a plastic storage crate and a tool box stacked on top of each other. Leaning up against that, because I've just never gotten around to finding a good place for it, is an old wooden folding stool that used to belong to my grandfather. It's the kind with canvas stretching across to make up the seat after you fold it open.

While sitting here late at night in the quiet, I'm all the time looking over toward the front of the house where the heater sits, focusing on the sounds of animals outside or looking at the kittens play. Two nights ago I looked over toward the heater, for what reason I can't remember, and saw the old folding stool unfolded and sitting between the staircase and the heater. "Hmm. Neat", I thought. But maybe it just fell and unfolded, especially how the cats run through there hitting it sometimes. I never heard anything though.

I was comfortable in my chair, so I didn't bother to get up to investigate. I figured I'd have to do so anyway when I got ready to go to bed, and had to fold the stool back up to keep from stumbling over it in the dark. Since that point, my attention drifted elsewhere and I forgot all about investigating it until a couple of hours after waking up the next morning. That's when I saw the stool folded and leaning back where it was.

Ok, now was the time to investigate. I bumped it and hit it every which way that I figured a cat, or me stumbling, would do it. I hit it at it's side, it's legs, the top, everywhere. The closest I got to mimicking what happened was when I bumped the legs out and then hit the top of it and pushed downward, like a cat jumping from the toolbox to the ground and catching it. It only partially opened up, but it fell to the floor. Then after a few times of just seeing what it would take to actually make it stand unfolded and upright, I came to the unscientific conclusion that no normal means could have made that stool go from it's leaning position to folded out and sitting perfectly upright and square in between the heater and the stairway. And I think it's safe to say that it's just simply impossible, as far as conventional means go, for it to fold itself back up and lean itself against the tool box.

What, if any, special meaning that folding stool has, I don't know. I just saw it in my grandmother's garage over a year ago, it's wooden frame in good shape, and the seat appearing to be made from the blue and white striped canvas that once covered an old pillow. It had character to it, so I took it home before it got thrown out or discarded. Who exactly or what was using it the other night to sit by the heater, I don't know. But I guess if they felt at home enough to do it and appreciative enough to kindly put the stool back after they were finished, I certainly don't mind if they want to pull up a seat by the heater again.

What a wonderful story that was Rev.... One for the Front Page in my book...

Any chance of seeing a pic of the chair ?...

The stool was your grandfather's stool that he carried deer and squirrel hunting with him. It is small and easy to carry. He would sit on that stool under a tree watching for a deer or squirrels. If the weather was cold, many times he would build a small fire in front of himself. Look on the stool legs and see if you see scratch marks where he would strike a match with which to light his pipe. You were his favorite granddaughter.

Thanks, Momma. And sure, I'll get a pic of the chair.

Thanks too for the info on it, Bubba. I looked on it, and it does have some kind of scuff or scratches on just one leg.

Now that I think about it, I've smelled an 'old garage' smell here in the house before. I do have arts & crafts stuff and paints/solvents in the house, but this was that distinct musty garage/grease smell. That's about the only thing I can think of that could be related to the chair.

Do you ever smell pipe smoke? He smoked Prince Albert. Which side of the stool are the scratch marks?

When he died, your grandmother called us at about 8pm to come check on him. She could not wake him. We rushed over there. I tried CPR, pounded his chest. All to no avail. He was gone. Passed away very peacefully and suddenly. Perhaps he is visiting those he cared a lot about.

I've never smelled pipe smoke that I recall. And the scratch marks I believe are on the bottom of one of the legs. You can see it on the right front leg of the picture below. The rest of the legs have most of their finish still on them, with the exception of being scuffed from normal wear and tear.

Here's a picture of the stool, Momma. Sorry about the cat in it. lol I moved the stool in front of the door for a clean shot but had to move a cat toy out of the way first. Then I couldn't get the cats out of the shot.



And yeah, I need to mop my floor.

Many thanks for the pic Rev...

As soon as I saw it..I thought..'That stool has history'...

Great story...