Got them floors finished. The last few spots weren’t probably done quite as intensely as the others, but good enough for me. It was time to return the Bissell that I’d borrowed, and I have the floors in a place that I am genuinely happy with. They. Look. Amazing. It’s the miracle of real wood, I think, even if it is just a thin top layer: it can be properly cleaned. Restored to its pristine state. It’s amazing how resilient wood is, really. It’ll last almost forever if you treat it right, and that’s pretty amazing to me.
For whatever reason, that makes me think of how sailing ships smell. Treated. They smell like oil, almost like gasoline, though muskier than that, not as sharp. But definitely petroleum derivative. And I mean the old sailing ships, with masts and sails and all made of timber. I’ve been on a couple of them, both back when I was a kid. The first, I think, was a replica of the Mayflower? Maybe the Nina, Pinta, or Santa Maria? I think it was a Mayflower replica. I was young. But I remember that smell. The second one I definitely remember: the Bounty. The replica they built to make the movie, I think, with Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson. We watched the movie in school, which is WILD in retrospect because there is so much in that movie that isn’t for kids, including a very young Liam Neeson beating the absolute shit out of a sailor who tries to sit in his seat. I remember that scene vividly. The natives are also all naked. Crazy. But, yeah…same smell. Strong. I think it’s how they waterproofed the decks.
Tangent.
My brother is here. And Addie. Tomorrow, we get to spend the day together. So exciting!
Night night.