Category: Tarot

The Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot: The Reawakening – A Deck Review

by Jamieson Wolf, posted in Tarot, Tarot Deck Reviews

Of course, I knew about The Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot when it first came out.

It was independently released and a very limited printing and I just remember people being so thrilled to have snagged a copy of the deck. I hadn’t been lucky enough to do so and the deck kind of fell off my radar until I learned that the deck was being re-released and published by Lewellen and Blue Angel. I delved into the online images and discovered a whole new world.

Inspired by the legends and myths of before times, I was curious to see the deck looked. I wondered at a tarot deck filled with beings from all kinds of beings from myth and mysticism. I was a little worried about it. I had used decks that drew from myth and legend before, but they had been centered to one mythology or one type of legend. Would the deck work at all? Sure, the art was gorgeous, but how would the cards read? I was so curious and really wanted to delve into the world that Avalon Cameron and Ana Tourian had created.

When a friend gave me a gift card for Yule, I knew that there was only one thing I wanted. I got myself a copy of The Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot. I opened the box and was prepared for disappointment, positive that my excitement would not continue after the fever pitch. It’s like this sometimes with decks. I thirst for some decks, only to find that as a whole, the art doesn’t work or the guidebook is badly written. They become part of my collection, but I don’t use them, the attraction I felt for the cards gone now that the thirst was satisfied.

A lot of the decks I thirst after do end up salivating that thirst and continue to do so. Examples of decks like this are The True Black Tarot, The Emphere Tarot, The Spacious Tarot, The Light Seers Tarot, Fifth Spirit Tarot, Tarot La Base!, The Painted Tarot and The Phantomwise Tarot. These are card I turn to again and again for guidance and advice, but there are so many others that don’t. There is nothing worse in the world of cartomancy than waiting for a deck for what seems like forever and finding that I don’t connect with the deck at all once I have it in my hands.

That didn’t happen with The Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot: The Reawakening. Instead, it has only increased. I’ve pretty much used this deck exclusively since December. Whenever I go to read with he deck, I’m drawn back into the world that has been created within the cards. When I open the box and flip through the cards, the art just pulls me into a world that I want to be part of. Added to that, it’s widened my knowledge of legend and lore. I was surprised by how many of the myths and stories I did recognize, but there were so many other cards that featured legends that I did recognize.

In a way, the Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot has helped to guide me back to a place within myself that I had closed off. It gave me the windows that I needed to look within myself and helped me to find the door I wanted to open. More than that, the card helped me to see myself as I truly was without all my perceived failings and negativity. It can be a very raw deck or a very healing one, it all depends on the cards I pull. I love decks that aren’t afraid of telling it like it is. I’ve never been afraid of the shadow side of things. I mean, we’re not made completely of light. There would be no light without the shadow, so we can’t ignore the negative. It is what helps us to grow. The Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot does this with impeccable balance. Using the cards gave me a new light to shine upon myself and I am forever grateful.

The deck comes in a beautiful two-piece box with a lifting ribbon, and the cardstock is absolutely fantastic, thick but nice and springy. It shuffles beautifully, whether you are overhand shuffling or riffle shuffling. The colours of the art are amazing and vibrant, and you can tell that creating this new version of the deck was a joy. The inside of the box holds the message: This is a world between worlds, a place of discovery, redemption, damnation and self-realisation. How will you weave your story? The Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot helped me to see the kind of story that I wanted to weave in my own life and have helped immeasurably in re-discovering the parts of myself that I had hidden a long time ago. It was a comfort sometimes to delve into the guidebook and learn about the myths and then read the stories to find out how I could relate to each card.

I wasn’t at al prepared to have this kind of connection with a deck of cards. My go to deck is The Wild Uknown. I received it for a gift from another friend years ago and have even gotten a tattoo of three cards from the deck on my right arm. Up until now, The Wild Uknown has been my spirit deck, but it looks like I finally have another.

The guidebook is a dream. Printed in full colour, it’s a chunky guidebook filled with spreads, a bit of tarot history, rituals and the secrets that the cards hold. It’s not only a tour through the cards, but a tour through your own spirit as well. Each card has an entry on what the cards means, the story or narrative behind the card and the upright and reversed meanings as well as numerology and astrology notes for each card and journal prompts that will enhance your writing and help you get to know the cards in more personal way.

When you get to the Minor Arcana, you are given an overview of what each suit means and symbolizes before they get into the cards themselves. I’m normally not one for guidebooks but have found myself diving in and reading the story that the cards present. Even more, as I said above, when I delved into the myths and legends brought to life by each card, I took the time to see how those stories could be a mirror to what I was going through. Tarot and story have always been mirrors for me to help me see myself completely. I turn to Tarot to learn more about myself, but rarely am I shone where I need to look in myself so clearly.

I normally flip through the guidebooks that come with most deck and instead I work to find myself in the cards. However, the companion book to the Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot: The Reawakening reads like those storybooks I loved so long ago as a kid that helped me look at myself and how I interacted with the world by giving me examples of how things could be. The companion book read like this and it contains so much lore and wonder.

I am in awe over everything to do with this deck. Everything from the gorgeous box to the guidebook and the cards contained within is absolute perfection. I can’t wait to see what The Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot can help me to learn about myself as I continue my journey onward in the land of legend and mythology.

You can learn more about the Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot here: https://blueangelonline.com/shop/card-decks/tarot-cards/bonestone-earthflesh-tarot-the-reawakening/

The Bonestone and Earthflesh Tarot is available from Blue Angel Publishing and they can be found here: https://blueangelonline.com/

Tarot Chimera by Nitasia Roland and art by Odilon Redon

by Jamieson Wolf, posted in Tarot, Tarot Deck Reviews, Tarot Decks

I saw the Tarot Chimera in a video deck review by The Hermit’s Cave (which can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNgJl9mCgDY&t=770s ) and was immediately smitten. I loved the designs, the quiet play of light and dark, the drawings that were at once arresting and intriguing.  For a lot of the cards, they reflected the emotion or intent, even if it didn’t contain the symbolism of each card.

I’ve always loved tarot decks that delved into the shadows a little to see what could be found. The Shadowland Tarot, The Wanderer Tarot and Carnival at the End of the World Tarot and The Starman Tarot are great examples of decks that ask you to look at the darker elements of life and show you where you can find the light.

Naturally, when I saw the Tarot Chimera, I knew that it was perfect for me.

Created and curated by Nitasia Roland, Tarot Chimera features the breathtaking art of French Symbolist artist Odilon Redon (1840–1916). It is styled in the RWS framework and the artwork by Rendon is surreal and haunting, but so incredible.

Redon was a well-known artist and symbologist who dealt with the speculative, loved symbols and the magic that they contained. Roland writes about her journey with Redon his art in her expertly written guidebook. She thought the art naturally lent itself to a Tarot deck and she is not wrong. The art by Redon is just breathtaking on its own, but when paired with a card number and meaning, it adds depth to the art. The images give new meaning to the cards, and I found myself getting blissful lost within the cards.

Roland has written an incredible guidebook that takes you on a journey of its own. She talks about Redon and what called her to his art and how his art reflects the shadowy dark part of our psyche. Her card meanings are spot on, not just in meaning, but she tied the art to the card beautifully. She took me on a journey within myself. I always look at the cards first and then sit with the guidebook, but she has designed something that works in sympatico with each other. You can read with the cards on their own, but the guidebook helps take you to places you may not have expected or normally associated with the cards.

Weiser has done an incredible job in quality. The cardstock is top notch, and the gold gilding is superb. It’s a linen cardstock that shuffles so beautifully and it’s only got a tiny bit of a glaze to it, and this helps the art pop even more than it would have. It’s a beautiful deck to overhand or riffle shuffle with. This is a sumptuous and surprising deck.

This deck of cards made me feel like I was walking around in the spirit and psyche of its creator and seeing parts of myself reflected back at me. I can’t wait to get lost in the shadows of the Chimera and find out what they have to say to me.

Card of the Month: 7 of Cups

The world around us is full of turmoil, so it’s a good time to look within to give you time to breathe. You are being given an opportunity to look at the parts of yourself that you have kept in the dark. When you close your eyes, it can be difficult to find your way in the dark. Take time to look at the different treasures you can see.

Though there may be some difficult things to take in about yourself, remember that all the parts of you, even those that you’ve kept in the dark, deserve love. When you look within, you may not recognize the parts of yourself that you’ve kept hidden, but they have never stopped believing in you.

Find the inner child and look within yourself with wonder.

Chapter Seventy-Five – King of Pentacles

by Jamieson Wolf, posted in A Tarot Guide, Memoir, Personal Growth, Someone Else’s Life, Tarot

The sky was the depth and wonder of black velvet.

The air around me was filled with the promise of something wonderful. It had taken me a week to make my costume. I was going as Demeter and Rhonda was dressing as a succubus. We had found my wig at the Zesty Mart on Bank Street; it had a good selection of stuff for Halloween costumes. The wig looked like real hair, and it gave me a black bob. It made me look older than I was. I had done my own makeup and had given myself blue shadowy eyelids and dramatic cheekbones.

I had found a long bolt of blue cloth and had arrange it to fall off one shoulder. I had found another bolt of black tuille and had sewn to hang from the waist of a simple black skirt. I wore my Doc Martins and carried a basket filled to the brim with leaves that I had collected and arranged. My costume was supposed to make me look as if I had been wandering among the snow, looking for her daughter. I had paled out my skin with white powder.

We were dressed for the Witches Ball. We were meeting Lisa and Darnelle there and a few more of our friends. I knew that Sophie, Fox and Jenn. Catherine was coming with Vince and Amanda. It was odd to me to me to have so many people I knew coming together. It filled me with feeling akin to joy, but it was somehow more. It shone brighter within me and I danced upon the thrum of this feeling as we skipped closer to Barrymore’s.

Barrymore’s threw the Witches Ball every year and I had never been before. I had been told to expect a night of magic and wonder and merriment. From the sea of people dressed in costumes, the others had not led me wrong. When we entered the bar, it was to find a sea of people in costumes and a band playing music on the stage. There would be a few bands tonight. The stage had been draped in webs and streamers that were made to look like a spider’s web. The triple moon had been painted on the stage wall and there were lights made to resemble candles everywhere.

It was too loud to speak sometimes, but we leaned in close and lost ourselves to the joy of finding others we knew in the crowd of people. I waved at Rainbow and Sunshine came in for a quick hug before heading to the bar. Catherine pulled me onto the dance floor so that I could lose myself to the music that was thumping through the room. It was filled with the bunt smell of smoke, the tang of sweat and a heady cloud of sage.

I let myself get lost in the music and the joy of the moment. The veil was thin tonight, and I knew that there was the potential for great things to be done tonight. I looked at everyone as I danced and I knew that I was lucky. In that moment, the air filled with the sounds of joy, I knew that my life had not gone to plan, but it had brought me here to be present when magic was being made.

The people around me, those that filled my life with such light, showed me that I was wealthier than I had ever thought possible. I had lost one family and gained another. Likewise, I had lost one home only to find another.

A lot had been taken from me, but I had found what mattered most: a place to call my own where I could build the foundations I needed. It felt weird and kind of magical to know that I had a home to go to, a bed of my own and a door that I could lock against the world if I chose to, or open to let the world in.

As I danced, I took hold of the Pentacle that I wore around my neck. It rooted me to this moment, to the earth around me. Within the room, I could see fire, breathe in air, feel the earth beneath my feet and drink libation. I knew at that moment, that I was everything that the earth offered. Holding onto that Pentacle, I knew who I was and I was finally at home in myself.

It was an odd feeling but one mad all the sweeter when the music changed and the bar started playing a remix of Rasputin by Bony M. I let out a laugh. My life was completely unrecognizable from where this path had begun.

I lost myself to the music and the scent of sage, sweat and booze that filled the air. I danced and I looked forward to what would come.

Chapter Seventy-Four – Queen of Pentacles

by Jamieson Wolf, posted in A Tarot Guide, Memoir, Someone Else’s Life, Tarot

Catherine’s three cats followed her everywhere.

If I couldn’t find her, I just had to listen for the padder of cat feet and head towards them. This time, I merely had to wait for the footsteps to find me because Catherine was going to introduce me to the others that lived in the house.

Soon enough, Catherine knocked on my door, and I opened it to find her standing there, surrounded by her cats. They meowed and rubbed against my shins and ankles. I reached down to pet them and to let them smell my hands. The cat that I held the other day, Bell, meowed until I picked him up. He nuzzled into my neck and held onto me, purring contentedly. Catherine smiled and rubbed Bell’s head between his ears. “He likes you. He’s fussy with people normally, but he’s taken a real shine to you.”

She was wearing a white poet’s blouse and short skirt that looked as if it were made of neckties. A purse was slung across her shoulder and on the front pocket I could see writing. I bent down to take a closer look. It read: Dip me in honey and throw me to the lesbians.

“Are you ready? I know you’re still putting yourself to right, but I promised to take you around to meet everyone and show you around. Is now a good time?”

I nodded and slung my purse onto my shoulder. It had my keys, book, tarot card and crystals. It felt kind of wonderful to lock the door and know that all my things were safe. The night before, I had traced a pentacle on the other side of my door, and I marvelled at how such a simple thing like a door made me feel safer than I had felt in a long time.

“It’s kind of mind blowing, isn’t it?”

“What’s that?”

“How a door can lead to home, to new adventures or be a barrier against what we don’t need anymore.” She took Bell from me, and he snuggled right into her embrace. “Doors can lead us to new things to explore, and they are barriers that we can control.” She put hand up and seemed to be listening for something. Turning to me, she smiled. “Nice wards. They are all warm and lovely like you. Come on.”

She led me to a door and knocked on it. “There are four rooms down here and three rooms in the attic. I love up there with Vince and Amanda. Laura lives down here with you, Ted is at the end of the hallway, and this room belongs to Eric. He’s really nice, though he’s really shy.”

The door in front of us opened and I saw a mop of dusty blond hair falling into blue green eyes. “Hey Eric, this is Jamieson. He lives next door to you.”

“Hi,” He held out his hand almost as an afterthought and I shook it lightly.

“Hello,” I said. “Nice to meet you,”

He nodded almost jumped when Catherine reached out to touch his arm. “We’re going to go for coffee. Do you want to come with us?”

“No,” he shook his head. “Reading, thank you though.”

“No thanks needed. Maybe next time?”

He nodded at us and retreated back into his room. “He’s such a nice guy if you can get him out of his shell.” She passed the other door. “Laura is out at her job. She volunteers at the Mission a lot. She likes to give back to those that helped her. I’ll make sure you meet her later.”

Knocking on Ted’s door, Catherine stepped back and gently pulled me back with her. “Trust me,” she said with a wink.

The door flew open and Ted looked at the two of us dark eyes filled with a light that had nothing to do with the lights above us. “Have you come to hear me recite some poetry?” He asked me.

“I could if that’s what you want me to do.” I said.

“Excellent, please recite the following sonnet. It’s one of my absolute favourites!” He yelled this as if he were in a large auditorium and needed to be heard.  He thrust a copy of A Midsummers Night Dream at me. It had obviously been read countless times. The book felt like it would fall apart in my grasp, but I was careful with it.

The sonnet had been highlighted in different colours. I read: “Over hill, over dale, Thorough bush, thorough brier, Over park, over pale, Thorough flood, thorough fire, I do wander every where, Swifter than the moon’s sphere; And I serve the fairy queen, To dew her orbs upon the green: The cowslips tall her pensioners be; In their gold coats spots you see; Those be rubies, fairy favours, In those freckles live their savours: I must go seek some dew-drops here And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear. Farewell, thou lob of spirits: I’ll be gone; Our queen and all her elves come here anon.”

I looked up and was astounded to see that Ted was actually crying. “Thank you fair sir.”

“Ted, this is Jamieson. I told you about him earlier.”

“Fair thee well, son of Jamie. May we merry meet again.” Giving us a bow, he retreated to his room and closed the door softly.

I stared at it in wonder. “Come on, let’s go see Amanda and see if she wants to go for coffee with us. There’s no point trying to meet Vis, he doesn’t get up until its nighttime. He likes to pretend he’s a vampire. It’s a good thing he looks good in black otherwise the whole vampire thing would be a total waste.” She went up the stairs, and I followed her. Bell went ahead of us and scratched at Amanda’s door.

When it opened, we were greeted by someone that bore a strong resemblance to Lucille Ball. Her makeup had been done in bold, exaggerated strokes and she wore her dark red hair all bundled together on top of her head. She wore what looked like a yellow Mumu cinched with a bright pink belt. “We going for a coffee run? Gosh, it’s been forever since I’ve had a good cup of coffee, maybe like a few hours? I’m not sure how long it’s been! Hey, are you Jamieson? It’s so nice to meet you!” She took my right hand in her own and clasped our hands together with her left. She shook my hand as if I were a visiting official. “Where do you come from? Don’t answer me, I’m good at guessing? Do you come from the cosmos? See, I knew it. Well, are we going or not?” With a finger wave, she began to make her way down the stairs ahead of us.

The very halls of the house seemed to breathe with relief. Catherine laughed at the shocked look I must have worn on my face. “She can be a lot, but Amanda is a brilliant artist. You should see some of her oil work.”

The day seemed bright once we left the house like the world was coming to life around me. We took the short trek to Irene’s Pub on Bank Street and hopped into a booth. The waitress came and took our coffee order. Catherine and I ordered a plate of zucchini sticks to share. Amanda waved her hand. “I’m off zucchini for a while. I had a little bender last week and it was zucchini everything.”

“Last month it was carrots.” Catherine said.

“I mean, they were so orange. Just calling out to be eaten.”

“And yet you hate oranges.”

Amanda waved her hand again as if she were shooing a fly or dismissing a servant. “Self-righteous bastards.” She said. “I can’t even with them.”

Catherine let out a laugh and Amanda snorted loudly. Soon, I was giggling right along with them. I hadn’t had much to laugh about and now here was this gift and who was I to turn away from the music of laughter? It was wonderful to let go of my remaining walls, even if it was just for a moment, so that I could lose myself in a moment of joy. I reached up to wipe away the tears of joy from my eyes and looked at Catherine.

For a moment, she looked to be wearing a crown of stars in her curling red hair and the stars shone so brightly. I blinked and realized that what I had mistaken for stars were really the tears that clung to my eyelashes. The laughter made by all three of us made the stars move and shift as if they were ready to fall from the sky.

Reaching a hand across the table to take one of mine, Catherine gave my hand a squeeze. “I’m so glad you found us, Jamieson. Welcome home.”

I nodded, agreeing with her. “It feels like home already.”

Tilting her head to the right, she looked at me. Her eyes widened at me and then narrowed slightly. “It’s so hard to run all the time. It’s nice to rest finally, isn’t it? You know all about that.”

Nodding again, I looked away from her because she had hit the nail on the head in one go. I tried covering and took my pack of cigarettes from my bag, I held out the pack and Amanda and Catherine each took one and we lit them from the same flame. I wondered if such a thing could be considered magic.

I let out a plume smoke and tried to put my fear into the air so that it could return to the ether. “Yeah,” I said. “It is.”

Chapter Seventy-Two – Page of Pentacles

by Jamieson Wolf, posted in A Tarot Guide, Memoir, Someone Else’s Life, Tarot

“I just don’t know what to do,” I said. “I can’t go back there, but I need a place of my own.”

I had crashed at Rhonda’s. I had taken my bag and my roll of foam from Lisa’s place as soon as I had gotten home from the hospital with Lisa, Rosilind and Carl. Carl would be staying with Lisa so that she would have help with the baby. When Lisa saw me with my backpack slung on shoulder, the roll of foam tucked into the other strap, she pointed at the front door.

“Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out,” she said, wiggling her fingers at me.

No word of thanks for helping her through the birth of her daughter, not that I expected any. I left without any clear path of where I was going to go, knowing only that I had to leave. I knew that I was heading towards something new and that it would give me the opportunity to discover more about myself, but I had no idea how I was going to get there.

Rhonda had waved my concerns away. “Didn’t I tell you that I had a plan?” She lit my cigarette and then hers. She ripped off a paper from a pad and handed it to me. “I’m just happy you’re away from her. That’s the part that matters most.”

“I don’t think she treated me that badly.”

“You can’t see it, you’re too close to her. It’s like that with abusers. You need to get away from them to appreciate that. She’s bad people, Jamieson. Bad people will always be attracted to good people like you.”

She huffed out a plume of smoke and took a sip of her coffee. “The important thing is that you’re out from under her influence and you have the opportunity to go forward.”

“Yeah, but go forward where? I don’t have anywhere to live.”

“That never stopped you before. Besides, didn’t I tell you that I had a plan? Come on, finish your coffee. We gotta take a walk.”

I did as I was told and couldn’t help but wonder where this new path would take me. I felt lighter. The day was bright with the rusty smell of sunshine and fallen leaves, and I could hear the wind whisper to me as I made my way outside. I was filled not the urge to run, but the need to take in everything I saw. I knew that my life was about to change again, and I welcomed that change, whatever it may bring.

We walked into the Glebe. It felt odd being back here. I knew that my mom and stepdad were nearby and I had no wish to see them. I didn’t know what I would say to them if I saw them, but Rhonda took me beyond where their house was on Sunnyside to a side street named Monk Street. We stopped in front of a large grey Victorian house covered in vines of ivy that looked impossibly big and small at the same time, as if it held onto the many things that were possible all at once. It looked like a house that was home to witches, and I wondered what magic it contained. “What’s this place?”

“You’re new home, if you like it. Hold on a sec, here she is.”

A woman was coming down the front steps to greet us. I recognized her as the woman that I had danced with in front of the fire at Kaleidoscope. She had been the one who had painted her breasts in swirls of red and silver so that she would like the fire. I remember how wild and free she was and the smile with the glint in her eyes showed me that she had not changed.

“Jamieson!” she said, giving a hug. “I’m so glad that Rhonda and I talked. Did you know that a room just became available!” She pulled away from the hug and gave me a bright smile. “I’m Catherine.”

I was so starstruck by her. She seemed to shine as brightly as she had when we danced with our spirits that night. I wasn’t sure how to respond to such brightness. My words got frazzled and dazzled inside my mind. “You look at lot different with clothes on.” I said and mentally slapped myself for being so blunt. “I’m sorry.”

Catherine let out laugh that sounded like music. “I get that a lot.” She said. “So do you, from what I remember.” She gave me a wink. “Come on, let me introduce you to Ned. He’s like the super of the house, but I had him hold the room for you when Rhonda told me that you needed a new place to stay.”

She brought us into the house, and I was struck by the fact that the outside didn’t match the inside. The outside was painted completely grey and it seemed to be designed to blend right in and not be noticed. The inside was all warm wooden floors, cream-coloured walls and a banister that had been painted a bright white to match. She brought us to a room just off of the kitchen and nocked on the door.

Opening the door, Ned greeted us with a smile and glasses that were perched on the end of his nose that made his eyes seem impossibly small. I felt a stirring at my feet, and I looked down to see a black cat rubbing itself against my leg. Without thinking, I reached down to pick the cat up and it nestled into my arms, purring loudly.

“Bell likes you,” Catherine said. “That’s a good sign.”

“Bell?”

“As in Bell, Book and Candle. I have three black cats. I wanted to name them something witchy.”

“And they manage not to be too much of a nuisance, unlike you.” Ned said with a smile at Cathine and holding out a hand to me. His hand enveloped mine in a warm handshake and his black hair fell into his eyes. “Catherine said you’re looking for a place. We’ve only the one room, but it’s better than a kick in the head. Come on, I’ll show you.”

We all went up the stairs together, with Ned first, me following behind him and Catherine and Rhonda bringing up the rear. Each step we made created music in the old wooden stairs, creaks and groans that only an old house could make. Listening to the music that it made, it sounded like the house was happy that I was here. Each creak sounded joyful, each sigh sounded content.

Ned explained that there were four floors in the house: main, second and attic with a basement. This house had been an old Victorian mansion at one point in its life, and he said that most of the wood was original to the home. There was a total of seven rooms, plus the kitchen, living room and dining room. “We don’t have a lot of turn over here, not like regular boarding houses. Catherine herself has been here for a few years. Rent is your standard welfare cheque, but we can work that out later. Wait till you see the room.”

I could hear the music growing with each step we took upwards, the voices of other people talking and the light sound of a guitar being played that joined the music of the house itself. When we reached the second floor, Ned turned and walked own to the end of the hallway. The bathroom was there and the walls had been done in a royal blue with the sinks and bathtub in white ceramic. “There’s only one bathroom I’m afraid. I’ve asked the landlord to put in another, but they don’t want to ruin the house, so we’re going back and forth on it. Good thing is, your room is right here, if you want it.”

He opened the door directly adjacent to the washroom and stepped into a room that was at the back of the house. I wasn’t prepared for the fact that is had a window, and it was a large bright space, perfect for bed and maybe somewhere to sit. It even had its own closet, and most important part was that it had a door. “Does the door lock?”

“Yes, it does. You’d have one key and I’d have the other, just in case there was some kind of emergency. I’d never go into your room without your permission.”

I had a momentary flashback to Joey, the man that had run the boarding house on Arlington. “I’ll take it if you will have me.”

“Wait, you haven’t seen the best part yet, go on and open that door beside the window.”

I walked to the door and took the antique doorknob in hand and pulled opened the door expecting to see a closet, but what I saw was so much more than that: It was a whole other room. Three of the walls only went up part of the way as the rest of the space was taken up by windows.

I walked into the room and turned around so that I could take it all in. The wall with the door was red brick, but it was the windows that drew me. They looked out over a small garden in the backyard and there were vines of ivy covering the corners of the windows. I turned back to Ned, and he could see my shock that must have been written on my face. “This would have been the old sunroom of the house. The landlord didn’t want to split these up, so if you take this room, you’ll get this one, too. It’s a little cold in the winter, but the walls are insulated. Past tenants have put up curtains to keep the warmth in.”

I nodded. I looked at Rhonda and she gave me a thumbs up. I turned back to look at the garden down below and thought of the seeds that I could plant here. It was a place where I would not have to hide in the dirt. I could grow here and hopefully thrive.

“When can I move in?” I asked Ned.