Dreamin'

I do not build. I am not a builder, not a craftsman, not a carpenter. I cannot do magical things with wood; I cannot do basic things with wood. I can, on occasion, do clumsy things with wood.

If this seems odd, I offer it as preparation for a day dream that I have, one which I would like very much to bring to life, but which, like programming a file read in PCOMM, I think will forever remain a daydream, because I do not think I can bring it to pass. I do not think that I can make it happen.

My daughter's bedroom closet has a hatch in the ceiling. This is how you get into our tiny attic -- actually, more of a crawlspace than anything, and not a comfortable one, either. Whenever someone comes that has to get into the attic, we have to take all of her clothing off the clothesbar, and we have to clear off the shelf. It all gets dumped onto her bed, and later it gets laboriously put back. All this so that you can get a ladder close enough to the wall so that you can climb up into the attic without smashing your head on the closet door frame.

She hates this. So do I.

This is the day dream.

I want to replace the shelf and the clothesbar with two tall thin boxes, each secured to one side or the other of the closet space. Sometimes I think they will have a short hanging rod in them, sometimes shelves. It doesn't matter. Each box would be as high as the closet shelf is now, and a tad wider than the space from the wall to the fully-open bifold door.

In the main space, between the two tall thin boxes, I see a strong, wide box with a hanger rod across it. The box is made of a clean hard wood, as are the smaller boxes. The top of the box is even with the tops of the two tall thin boxes. The box sits about two inches above the carpeted floor, and there is a covering of wood dropping down in front. Behind the covering are four heavy duty rubber wheels. So that when someone comes who needs to get into the attic -- in the local speech dialect, 'needs into the attic' -- you don't take anything down, don't put anything on the bed. Inside, you reach into either side of the tall thin boxes, release a catch, and -- pull the wide box straight out. No muss, no fuss.

I would like to be able to do that. I cannot. I don't know anyone who can show me how to do that. And I know better than to believe what I see in Family Handyman. Let alone, Fine Homebuilding.

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