The weather has been unseasonably warm these days, up in the 70s for the high temperature. I decided that I should put away my scarves, as they are for colder weather.

I gathered the bulky, knitted scarves and put them in a basket. The fabric, smoother scarves, I arranged on a hanger. In picking up the last scarf, I did a double take and discovered a hidden treasure underneath the scarf pile: a wingback chair.

After securing the scarves in their new home in the closet (novel idea!), I stole an hour or so from my chores and sat down in the chair and read. Sweet!

I sat in my wingback chair, my dog Dusty was asleep on the dog bed near my feet, I had a hot cup of tea and a good book. Norman Rockwell would be proud.

(I’m probably the last to know that the wing chair design is hundreds of years old, from the late 17th century. The wings are actually functional, keeping the draft away from the seated person and keeping in the warmth of the fire. Somehow this chair from the 1700s looks in better shape than mine. Maybe it was protected, buried beneath a scarf pile for a long time.)

A wingback chair from the early 1700s at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.