Lining the doors
We’ve come a long way from the general store, where you could probably find one of everything. I remember visiting a place like that, back on the Island, where there seemed to be nested basements. There didn’t seem to be a limit (although we probably lacked imagination); you asked for an article, and the staff came back with one in hand. Now we go to stores that have dozens of everything, and a wide variety in any class.
Back when the weather was still warm, it was duly noted that the weatherstripping around the main door to the house was “worse for the wear”; an euphemism for gone. Although I visited the local hardware emporia, since we have too many to ever leave me with no store to check out, I didn’t find what I wanted. Wrong season.
Now the longest season has returned. While waiting for the dog to come home, watching out the window beside the door, a wisp of wind reminded me that the crack around the entrance was not helping my quest for lower heating costs. Actually, blowing in one’s ear is supposed to have a different effect, but I’ve become stingy with the passing years. I decided to be proactive and headed back to the box store.
Variety! Did you know that they make so many different sorts of weatherstripping that they code the boxes with letters, and I do appreciate organization. Doors are fairly standard in size, so any box would do, but I happily compared the thickness and the profile and the quality/cost of various extruded rubber strips. For a moment, I imagined going around to all the windows of the house, just because I could.
Now the front door is hard to close, again. It will confuse the children, but the risk of a front hall snowdrift has been reduced to “slim to none”. Take that, Old Man Winter.
