Seven and a Half ConversationsMarch 17, 2001
You might wonder where the title "7 1/2" comes from. And of course, like everything else at Windward, there's a story attached. It all started with the kitchen fire last summer. The trailer that housed our kitchen, dining room, pantry etc. burned down in June. Since then, we've used Yucca, another of the our trailers, to prepare meals. But there is no room inside for us to eat. So during the warm months, we used our picnic table, with a canopy for shade. But by October it was clear we were going to need a winter alternative.
Walt had been working on readying Cabin B for use by insulating it, putting up sheetrock, lights and such. We had originally planned to use it to house the oven we needed to cook the Thanksgiving turkey, along with the refrigerator and freezer, but as it turned out, there was room for the oven, a small counter AND a table for us to all eat together. So when it was finished having electricity and drywall installed, I painted it, Shawn floored it with linoleum, and in we moved.
All the buildings, trailers and storage boxes here at Windward have names. Mostly the names derive from who made them, where we got them or other mundane methods. But we decided "Cabin B" just wasn't gonna cut it. Walt started calling it "7 1/2" after the rather short-ceilinged floor in the movie Being John Malkovich and it stuck. Our "7 1/2" is also rather low in the overhead department; not that we have to walk in bent over like they did in the movie, but nobody's gonna do jumping jacks in there either. It's cozy.
We've had visitors this week; two prospective members, Terri and Roy, came out to see the place and meet us. So lunchtime conversations were full of getting-to-know-you stories. One included a horse of theirs who rivaled Mr. Ed: he came in while they were gone, turned on the TV and sat on the couch to watch!! Both of them are cooks, so we also were discussing possible lunches later on. Nothing makes food so tasty than talking about more food! We got to discussing Chinese dishes to try out, and now Heather's fired up to make a Chinese Chicken Salad later this week.
We're looking forward to having Terri and Roy around the lunch table again soon. In the meantime, I think today Fern is making up some of her famous potato salad to go with hot dogs. Hopefully wherever you are today for lunch, you'll have great food and wonderful company to share it with, as we do.
- Holly
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