Phil Parisi

Some years ago, Tess inherited some money from an uncle she had not liked.

And she put it toward a house.

First time home buyer at 48.

I don't know what I was expecting when I went out there to see it.

Probably some small bungalow on a creek or something.

Ivy all over it maybe.

But instead, it was this plain, cookie-cutter place in a brand new development with no trees.

All the houses looked pretty much identical.

White, sterile, no distinctive features whatsoever.

But she got her deal on it as they tried to get these things occupied for the optics of it in the early going.

The point being, there was nothing in the least bit creepy about it, and it had no history at all yet.

She showed me around a little.

She'd just moved in.

She'd start looking for roommates soon enough.

She was taking a month off before having to start doing more gig work.

And she really wanted to start in some new paintings, but she kept getting distracted.

For example, she'd found this chair on the side of the road she wanted to strip down and refinish, repaint.

Beautiful little chair she showed me.

I guess it was beautiful.

What do I know about chairs?