Reader Buck7762 asked about the little table next to the bookcase and it has a bit of family history related to the Venezuela extinct democracy.  The was the story was told to me by my father, it was late in January 23, 1958, an important date because a mostly blood-less coup had taken out of power General Marcos Perez Jimenez who had been the dictator of the country for a decade.  And as usual in situations like that, some people became exuberant and “mostly peacefully” went looting after houses and business owned by members of the regime who were done beating a path outside the country.  My dad said he was walking around taking on the experience of people just loosing it and a country starting a new path (he was born  in Spain under a king and left under a dictator)  possibly even a democratic future when he saw people ransacking a house (allegedly belonged to a high ranking member of Seguridad Nacional, the secret police) and tossing stuff out. One of the items was the little table that he liked and brought to his “pieza” (rented room in a boarding house) figuring that it would be nice in a future house he’d own. This was just before he and mom married.

So that little table has been with us for 62 years and was one of the few pieces of furniture I brought from Venezuela when I got move to move mom with us. The missus likes it and I like to have around a small piece of history in my living room.