A bench is one of those everyday items that you give little thought to and yet a well placed bench may be the most useful piece of furniture in your home.

Putting on your winter boots or hiding away the children's toys....relaxing in the garden shade or tying flies for your next fishing escapade -- benches simply make our daily lives a bit easier and more comfortable.

One of my favorite benches is a church pew that my son purchased at auction.  Placed along a wall of their mud room it is used daily to get ready for sledding or as a back-saving seat when brushing the dogs.  The smooth, contoured hardwood seat has become the favorite nap spot for Dudley, my Grandson's cat.

As a child I spent many hours on a concrete bench that curved around the base of a huge weeping willow tree in my Grandmother's gardens.  The arching fronds  of the willow often reached the ground by the end of summer, making the bench a seat in my private tree-cave.  Many years later (and I do mean MANY years), I can remember the design of that bench, the rough corner which was chipped by a limb falling during a storm.  Even now, I could could drawn the design that was cast into the legs of the bench.  Many childhood hours were spent on that bench, or sitting on the grass leaning against it....it was for reading, napping, dreaming, planning, watching the bees, the butterflies and the birds.

Another useful childhood bench that I remember was part of my Aunt's "hall tree".  I found it curious, though not pretty or comfortable.  Made of a heavy dark wood, the hall tree had a short bench with wide arms.  The back of the bench was flat and uncomfortable and rose many feet above the seat area.  There was a round mirror built into the back at eye level and large wrough iron hooks for coats and scarves.

I've no doubt the concrete bench I loved so well eventually crumbled or was discarded after the property was sold but I've always hoped other children enjoyed it before that happened.

The "hall tree" had a different fate.  After the death of my Aunt, we learned the massive, homely coat holder was a rare antique variety.  At auction it sold for thousands of dollars - and I wondered if perhaps somewhere in it's long history, a child had found comfort on its bench.