Friday Five ~ home sweet home

Songbird was thinking of home when she came up with these five questions for today's RevGalBlogPals Friday Five.



1. My first home — Where was your first home?

I was told we lived on Read Avenue (in Chattanooga, Tennessee) when I was born, but nobody every pointed out which house that was, even though the street is only three blocks long.  My dad opened a grocery store a few blocks away, and the apartment behind the store is the first place I remember living.  How appropriate is it that this bookaholic reader with a book blog first lived on Read Avenue?

2. Dreams — Do you ever dream about places you used to live?

Most recently, I dreamed about the house where my children grew up.  My mother also lived with us, and she was in that dream.  Years earlier, I dreamed that I walked out the door of the church where I grew up and onto the porch where I lived when I attended that church.  Even in the dream, I knew that was weird.

3. Bring back — If you could bring back one person from your past to sit at your dinner table, who would you choose?

Oh, my mother, of course.  My young daughter once said, "I know who's your best friend."  Names ran through my mind, and when she said, "Grandma," I smiled, knowing she was absolutely right.  If Mother came back, I'd probably have a hard time getting her to sit down and talk, since she was the one who liked to cook and serve the food.

4. Favorite room — What's your favorite room in your current living space?

Kiki reading

Since I have a roommate, my bedroom is the one room that is completely mine.  (Oh, pardon me, Kiki, I know it's your room, too.)  I have my desk there, along with a comfortable chair and six bookshelves lining all the walls except the mirrored closet wall.  And I have Kiki to keep me company.

5. Object — Is there an object or an item where you live now that represents home?  If not, can you think of one from your childhood?

A few of my books

I looked around, considering my piano and the chair that belonged to my grandfather.  But no, it has to be the books.  I agree with Anna Quindlen, who said, "Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. They are the destination, and the journey. They are home."

• And I agree with Horace Mann:  "A house without books is like a room without windows."
• And Marcus Tullius Cicero:  "A room without books is like a body without a soul."
• Who also said, "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need."