Beach Chair Given New Lease on Life

When Eric and I first started seeing each other over a decade ago, a typical summer Saturday or Sunday we'd be at the beach. We'd head out early morning, set up camp and spend the rest of the long day in the water or resting on the warm sand. This beach chair acquired at a yard sale a long long time ago frequently made the journey with us.

Until one day, Eric adjusted the armrest. The wooden arm grew jagged fangs and bit back leaving a long and thick splinter in his hand. I still remember the shock on his face and slowly raising his left hand to reveal an almost two inch long 1/4 inch wide protrusion. The offending chair was put to pasture and our beach days evolved to include one and then two kids.

In light of commemorating our years together, I pulled out this beach chair and set to fixing it. I sanded the left armrest to remove the biting teeth.

I made beeswax furniture polish specifically for this project, conquering my phobia of doing so.

I cleaned up the chair and polished the arms.

As I work at the speed of parenting, I worked on this project for about two weeks. The project wasn't so difficult, but there was table tennis to be played, books to be read, scooter rides and sculptures to witness. In spite of living with this chair restoration for a fortnight, the boys kept it under wraps. And I was able to surprise Eric with a restored relic of our early life together.

I'm envisioning a time when our beach days will evolve again...when we get to swim with our boys in the ocean...when they move on to chase lions and Eric and I return to long days together at the beach much richer for the journey together.