Where I write

Where I write

October 27, 2011

The Princess and the Pea


My friend, Sandy, who does all sorts of fun things recently visited Frank Sinatra's bedroom is Palm Springs, California. This is a photo she sent to me of the view from his bedroom. Frank wasn't there, of course, at least not physically but perhaps in spirit. The doors of Frank's former home were open for a fund raiser for a good cause, animals! I pictured Frank's bedroom to look like this. Didn't you? Sleek and suave and white carpet. Any minute I could imagine him getting ready for a performance, wearing a suit and tie, and singing My Way.

I'm thinking about bedrooms lately because I'm looking to buy a mattress. I wonder if Frank had a comfortable, expensive mattress. Probably. I always loved that story The Princess and the Pea. The princess was so special she could even feel a pea beneath her pile of mattresses. I used to sleep on two mattresses as a teenager and pretend I was a princess. I'd still like to pretend I'm a princess but life keeps reminding me, especially when I put on the waitress apron and go to work, that I'm not. Darn.

Here is a photo of President Lincoln's bedroom at his log cabin in Charleston, Illinois. This was his bedroom before he was president and got to move to Washington D.C. and not have to cut word to keep his house warm anymore.  I visited his log house many years ago, but I don't remember this bedroom with the spinning wheel and lumpy mattress. Doesn't poor Abe's mattress look painful? No wonder he didn't smile much. Or maybe that's someone hiding under that blanket. Maybe Abe had a secret girlfriend. Maybe....okay let's move on.
Here is the bedroom of the famous author, Virginia Woolf. She wrote the book about how every woman needs her own room, however tiny, in which to write. Or just to have.  Anyway, this looks exactly like the kind of bedroom I imagined an English literary author to sleep. Imagine all those books above your head as you sleep. She  must have dreamed in words. The bed, though, looks rather small. I haven't slept in a twin bed since I was a little girl. I need room to spread out these days.
The is the bed I've always dreamed of having. A golden canopy. With a white comforter. Every night I would have magical dreams. I'm sure. Of handsome princes and balls and pretty dresses and publishing my novel. Or maybe even Frank Sinatra singing to me. Problem is I am horrible with white, whether it be a blouse, carpet or comforter. So forget this white bedding. I would be washing every day. I throw stuff on my bed all the time.  I don't even allow myself to buy white anymore. I'm known as the Queen of Stains.

Finally, I was going to show you a photo of my bedroom but realized that's more information than people really need. I will tell you this. When I was a little girl my mother painted my bedroom a sunny bright yellow. All these years later, I sleep again in a bright yellow bedroom. Maybe when I find my new mattress I'll stick a pea beneath it and find out if I'm a princess yet. Oh forget that. I'll just be glad to wake up in the morning without a back ache. Or better yet, just wake up in the morning.

3 comments:

Rita A. said...

I love the white comforter look too. But I also love to sleep with the dog. She's black, brown, white and gray so nothing works.
I slept on my niece's pillowtop mattress. It was WONDERFUL so check them out.

SunsetCindi said...

Mattresses are so hard to buy. Make sure you get a guarantee that you can bring it back within 30 days if it doesn't work for you, even if you have to pay a restock fee. A sunny yellow bedroom fits your aura of sunshine. Nothing like waking up to a bit of sunshine each morning, now that's a real princess!

Anonymous said...

What a cool post! Bedrooms really do tell a lot about a person! I can totally see why you have yellow walls - you are always a little ray of sunshine!