Daily Bread

[iris lily]

Below are photos that show the trends of porches in my city.

Here, my neighborhood, no porches:

IMG_1189.jpg

Here, Tower Grove area houses built a generation later, small porches on big houses:

IMG_1186.jpg

Here, small house built a generation after the above in Tower Grove with massive porch

IMG_1188.jpg

Very few houses had carriage entries, those are usually on the side of houses built by wealthy people, and they were a transitional stage for both horses and automobiles.

Most people didnt keep a horse and carriage, they hired it when needed from the stable up the street.

We have a large number of "carriage stones" in my neighborhood that are left over from the days when peope took carriages and stepped out of the high carriage onto the stone, then onto the ground.

[Williamsmith]

Fascinating IL! I definitely grew up in the tiny house with the massive porch neighborhood. Our porch was concrete without any banisters but surrounded by barberry bushes.....the kind with the little thorns that are sharp as all get out. Somebody who didn't like people had to plant those bushes. My brother and I took turns throwing each other off the porch and into the thorny bushes in order to resolve our disagreements. Then out came the methiolate.....that stung like the all get out also.

[Teacher Terry]

Great pics IL! I enjoyed seeing them. The house I raised the kids in had 3 floors plus a basement. The kids would have all the neighbor kids over and because they would play on the 3rd floor you could not hear a lot in the living areas which was nice.

[Williamsmith]

I attribute my ranking today's coffee below yesterday's to the noise of the garbage truck making its rounds .....the growl of the engine, the hiss of the air brakes, the clamor of the hydraulic lift and the slamming lids of the trash bins all combine to make one truly annoying package. The only thing that more consistently stirs my inner meanness is an electric vacuum cleaner.

But now that the trash is gone.....and don't we take that wonderful occurrence for granted.....it's my responsibility to go out to the curb and retrieve not only my own bin but my neighbors also. It's an unwritten rule of ethics in my condo community. We have four units per building and each driveway services two units. If you are first out to the curb, you grab your neighbors also.

That is unless your neighbor has managed to piss you off. In that case, you don't have to tell him to his face, you can just leave the bin on the curb and he'll get the message. That's an example of the dichotomy of condo living. Most move into a community like this to enjoy some privacy but then they share the same building with three other families, some of whom you might not get along with. Not only that but you are tied financially by sharing maintenance costs and management decisions for spending. Ah the joy of condo living!

But most people fake it good enough. I always get a half enthusiastic wave from everyone as I walk or drive through the place and I return an equally half hearted flick of the fingers from the steering wheel or a nod of the head. Not enough to show too much interest lest I offend them and just enough not to get the snotty upturned nose.

Right now we have what some have described as a black bear problem. A large mama and four smaller bears....presumably her Cubs....have decided our welfare community of bird feeders and various scraps just the comfortable living arrangements a growing family needs. Some have taken to the cute things and started feeding them on purpose. While others aren't too happy about their $250 custom bird feeders being ripped to the ground and destroyed.

I don't like to talk politics with my neighbors. I just get in trouble. One made it clear that our failure to recycle was ruining the environment. Others took up the chorus. A little research followed which determined recycling would require an increase of 10% in HOA fees and an extra bin to tote and store in already small garages. I haven't heard any "save the environment speech" since then.

Another was going on about how evil the Mexican-American border "Wall" was proposed by our Businessman In Chief. I commented that it was ironic a person living in a "gated community" purportedly for security reasons might be against a wall. The sign the reads..."Private ..Residents Only" didn't seem to bother her.

Yeha, I best just sit it out on the porch and stay away from the Pot Luck dinners.

[Float On]

I'm enjoying your musings and observations Williamsmith.

I've got friends to the north of me who recently learned their trash company sold to another and the new company isn't honoring their paid in full accounts. 3 weeks of trash piling up in this heat is not making anyone up there happy. I believe they will think the sound of the rumble and clang of the trash truck is the sweetest sound on earth when this all gets straightened out.

[Teacher Terry]

When I lived in a condo we did not have recycling either. We also did not have garages. I kept a big plastic bin in the guest bedroom and when it would get full I would drive it to a recycling bin. Now that we are back in a house it is much easier.

[catherine]

I also enjoyed your "coffee talk." Interesting insights on condo living. I've always wondered if the advantages in terms of less maintenance and potentially less cost would make up for the disadvantage of less privacy.

I also really liked your retort to your neighbor about the wall. Touché!

[Williamsmith]

I like to change perspective often in order to try to understand more about people and my environment. Often that just requires listening, usually it's simply allowing your mind to probe areas you have already deemed settled but on occasion it involves physically changing your relative position. Yesterday I got to do the latter. Yesterday the birds and trees were beneath my feet and only the azure sky was above me. One cumulus cloud system loomed on the horizon as if a white cauliflower floret was hung in front of me. It was there I suppose to remind me that perfection is always threatened. Yesterday, I glided over the firmament in a colorful hot air balloon.

Describing the moment of ascension in a balloon is a challenge. To me if was as a child holding a piece of salt water taffy in my sun warmed hands by a beach. Pulling the taffy apart, it stretched as if not ever really wanting to separate but my pressure applied evenly finally willed it apart in two pieces but not without realizing it was meant to be together. The balloon slowly stretched into the sky, just above the trees. Where a moment ago I could only see a small grass softball field surrounded by trees....now an the entire Chautauqua Lake and River Basin was before me. To the North Lake Erie and to the south the border of the States of New York and Pennsylvania.

Something about a balloon in flight attracts children, dogs and the eyes of people who haven't looked up for a long time. A child stands barefoot and shirtless out on a country road waving and yelling,"Hey up there!" I return the wave and the "Hey, down there!"

We drift along at about 8 mph...the speed of the wind. We clip the tops of cherry, oak, maple and pines. We see the reflection of the half moon and our balloon in a mirrored pond. Passing a driving range, the golf balls look like dandruff. Everybody in our path waves. We know nobody and wave back.

For about an hour we drift thoughtlessly with the wind. The blast of the propane torch reminds us that the earth is constantly trying to putback in our rightful place. The sun is diving toward the horizon and it is time to pick a place to set down. The pilot points out a small looking overgrown hayfield as his likely target. I am skeptical. He skillfully approaches just over the last set of quaking aspen I see and carefully eases the balloon toward the ground. We alight like a butterfly with tender feet. On the ground again.

It is a lot of hard work packing the ballon and all its supportive equipment away so afterward a toast of champagne. My son in law catches the cork. An Irish toast is most appropriate. We are not done yet. A stop at the local ice cream stand for a celebratory cone. New friends.....and a new perspective.

[razz]

Sounds wonderful, WS.

[nswef]

What lovely writing and description to start my day. Thank you Williamsmith!