We found it at a yard sale a couple years ago. It was smelly and had horrible fabric. It was obviously handmade and had odd proportions. But it was made of good oak, and it was of very sturdy construction. Incredibly sturdy. We paid about $30 for this chair, and brought it straight home.3
It took us a while to find other chairs and furniture for the living room. Once we had another good old armchair (a 1940s spring rocker with footstool), we took them to a local upholsterer and had them stripped to the bones and redone. The idea was that the rocker was going to be mine as it was smaller, and the oak chair would be my husband's.
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| Cali enjoying the oak chair, pre-Toby. |
The chair sat there, occasionally used by humans but mostly used by Cali. She seemed to enjoy sitting at a level closer to where we were, and it's position in the living room meant she could keep an eye on all the activity on the main floor. It had a nice roomy seat for her tiny size, and she was above Sam's tail... very important for a senior cat who lives with an enthusiastic Lab.
Toby came to live with us the following year. He's a much younger cat, and he's absolutely fascinated by Cali. He wants to play with her constantly. Cali on the other hand considers Toby to be the spawn of Satan, brought home to torment her.
It didn't take long for Cali to figure out that the space underneath the oak chair was not only a good vantage point that still offered protection from dog tails, but also very defensible from kittens. She had a wall on one side, a TV stand on the other, and she could see Toby no matter where he was in the area. So she went from sitting on the chair to sitting underneath it.
We've had a few evenings where we've watched Toby climb all over the top of the chair trying to get a good attack position. He'll try sneaking up on her from one of the open sides, jump up onto the seat once she starts growling at him, then hang, half on the seat and half off, trying to get his paws between the oak supports underneath. Eventually he'll fall asleep, and Cali will be able to slink out to get her supper, or move to locations without Toby for a quiet nap.
At some point we started calling the chair Fort Oak. Cali will creep into the room and into position underneath, which is "Fort Oak now defended". When Toby jumps on the chair, we see a reenactment of "The Battle of Fort Oak".4 When Cali leaves the room, "Fort Oak has been abandoned".
The strategies for the domination of Fort Oak can be quite dramatic, and extensive. Toby has tried every angle and every trick he can think of, and he still hasn't chased Cali out if she doesn't want to move. Sure it's just an old chair and two cats who can't get along, but really... it's the best money I think I've ever spent.
1 OK, technically we have three old chairs in the living room. There's am upholstered rocker from approximately 1940 that has springs that are the size one normally sees on truck suspensions. There's the 1970s wooden rocker, made of maple, crafted by a local furniture firm. This post is about the third old chair in my living room.2
2 As there are many pieces of old furniture in my house, these aren't the only old chairs I have. They're just the only ones I'm going to tell you about in this post. If you are curious about the extent of old chairs in my house, I'm willing to be bribed with coffee and/or beer to fill you in further. They all have awesome stories. All good furniture should have an awesome story. My house has been furnished accordingly.
3 During the two block ride back to the house, it became apparent how stinky the chair was. It had obviously spent much of its long and colourful life amongst chain smokers. The chair went straight into the garage, where it off-gassed for a few months.
4 The next scheduled reenactment is at 9pm EST. Tickets can be purchased at the kiosk out front.
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