Coffee table scenes

You can tell what occupies our time by what's on our coffee table. I mentioned this over a year ago, back when we lived in Indiana and had a different coffee table. I find myself taking pictures of our table, not because it's all that interesting, but because it's ordinary. Take this picture, for example.

On this day, in the last week, it held

• a letter I just received, and a letter I was writing
• the most recent Pottery Barn catalog, for browsing and inspiration (we're not shopping for anything for our home right now)
• a kale, goat cheese, and apple salad a friend sent home leftovers with me after a supper with her and her husband
• one of our favorite candles, this one in the "grandpa" scent
• my red water bottle

That was an ordinary day, really. I ate a quick lunch of leftovers, didn't put make up on, and threw on a comfy dress because it required less effort than thinking about an outfit. It was a day to "get things done," a busy and productive day, paired with a lengthy to-do list:

• prepare that night's supper for the crockpot
• make cookies (that used our one remaining overripe banana)
• read Titus 2 and journal
• a trip to the post office to mail said letter and buy new (pretty!) stamps
• a stop at the library to pick up a book I had on hold
• laundry: washing, sorting, folding, putting away
• vacuuming the hard floors
• sorting the mail and paying bills
• knitting (because to-do lists should have fun things on them too)

On a weekend, or another day off, the coffee table scene looks significantly different. There was no to-do list for this day. Can you tell?

My only plans for the day involved sleeping off a night shift, coffee, knitting, and BBC shows. We recently decided to get a Netflix subscription, and I love all the historical dramas (always have, always will). Currently, I'm revisiting Jane Eyre film from 2011 and Call the Midwife. They're the perfect background for that bottom scene.

Both pictures represent life at that moment, on that day. Whether my day looks more life the top version of the coffee table, or the bottom one, sometimes life's usual business is unusually beautiful.

What's on your coffee table? Is there a particular section of your home that represents your life right at that very moment?