What is it about good leather that seduces us? We cant get enough of it. We love leather so much we even love bad leather. We love leather so much we even love pleather. Ok, well, that may be taking it a little far. Still, the fact remains that we love leather. We even covet the smell!
When I hear the word leather I can hear the creak of my old saddle. Leather makes me think of dark wood, classic libraries, trips via steamer and train, and the soft cover of old books. Leather is classic, organic, comforting. In a world gone mad for shiny and new, leather still holds court. It is still influential. Leather abides.
And then yesterday ... I saw it .. this. It was just laying there, on the floor in the antique dealers shop display. Propped up against a table leg as if it had been set down one afternoon and then, in that moment, forgotten. Never to be remembered again. Just laying there waiting to be useful. Loved. Its rich mahogany color called to me like a siren, corrupting my better judgment. I simply had to have it!
But I left it there, propped up on the floor of the shop display. Forgotten by all as it was before. Still without a home. Still for sale. I bit my lip and walked away. This was the way it had to be.
Only it wasn't forgotten. I remembered our brief, euphoric time together. How I had opened it and looked inside. The pockets were perfect for filling with books and letters and plans. I chittered and chattered all night about it. We were going to cycle across France and write the great American Novel. We would spy with it, date with it, and perhaps one day wander onto a movie set (quite by accident) where the director would see me with it and just have to have it in the shot. It would be my carry on, my carry about, my classic style. And all who saw me would know me by it. My nephews would fight over it after I was gone. It would be a collector's item because it had been in "that movie". I talked about it, wondered about it ... like it was the new girl at school - so interesting and pretty and nice.
This morning I woke up and the rain was dripping from the sky. The leaves were shiny and bright like waxed apples. My man asked me to go for a walk. Just him and me and our umbrella. It was a walk like the ones in the movies. The brilliant leaves fluttered to the ground. I twirled my umbrella and smiled at him sideways. We laughed. It was very wet and very cozy.
And then we were at the antique store. My man was picking up the satchel and handing to to me. I was holding it! My new best friend! My little Hemingway. And then we were all walking home together .. the three of us. I was giddy! When I got home I rubbed it down completely with Lexol. The lovely chestnut color of before grew deeper. The leather is so soft. I am like a new mother! See how its bright brass snaps twinkle and wink at me like a continental flirt! Such a smart satchel, a classic. Together we shall build empires!
