The water heater has a sign taped to it that reads, “IDEA MACHINE — CAUTION, ALWAYS HOT!” I put this up because I was tired of people asking me why there was a water heater behind me during video conferences. It’s also a bit of an affirmation, that I am in as much of an actual office as anyone else.
It has been valuable for me to find a space for myself in a small house with two young kids, a space that maintains some privacy when needed and a dedicated platform for my work supplies and desk artifacts. A desk for me serves as a shrine to the modicum of professionalism that I can scavange within my stay-at-home parent lifestyle. My last office was in a storage closet, so my current office in the garage is an upgrade, I have a view to the street if the door is open. I’ve been in my gar-office for almost a year, and I am recognizing it as a sanctuary now more than ever.
A few of my favorite desk brick-a-bracks: my Fully-Leaded chicken, a vintage blue glass chicken butter dish that I use to store mechanical pencil lead and fountain pen ink cartridges; a pair of boxy old Kodak cameras, and a burnt orange Tupperware toy pitcher from my childhood play kitchen.
At times the gar-office is not accessible, physically or mentally. The mottled teal linoleum table that serves as the desk has been overrun before with the strata of family life; bills, mail, and school…
