Differences



WHAT A VIEW!!!!----Okay, maybe not so much, but I've learned something as I've looked here.




As I said before, I look out my front windows and enjoy the city-life that goes on below.  When I look out my back windows, this is what I see.  Our apartment complex takes up the entire block and curves around quite a ways on the left side.  Straight out back, there is some construction/remodeling going on, and on the right, where our building only curves slightly, I can see the back side of a string of rowhouse apartments.  As I was taking in my surroundings, I noticed how different each of the loggias are (covered porches, balconies, whatever you want to call them).  For instance:

The lady who lives in this roof-top apartment loves to garden (albeit in pots).  Her "spot" is in my direct line of vision as I sit at my desk.  I see her come out to water, weed, pluck, (and yes, I think she might even talk to them) several times a day.  She is obviously a lover of nature; and if the past five weeks are any indication, I'd say she has a green thumb.  The plants are bigger than when I got here.

The person or people who live here have created a haven rich with coordinating fabrics and beautiful plants and flowers that offers one a chance to escape the bustle of the city and relax.  On occasion I've even seen a plate of grapes or other fresh fruit sitting on the table (and no, I don't scope it out every day, nor do I use binoculars).  What a fun place to visit with a friend, possibly even entertain (okay, maybe only one visitor).

 

This space is used as strictly an extension of the laundry room as is a lot of others.  Hope the tenants here have other plans for their laundry during the winter!

No doubt in my mind that a guy lives here---a single guy most likely because his space is all about "THE DISH"!  He just needed a secure place to put the nuts and bolts, and his life is good.  Why try to do anything else with the space?

These people obviously value their privacy----but what are they hiding?  They don't want any Gladys Kravitz-type neighbors getting into their business.  Maybe they heard I was moving in with my camera!

Guess who rules the roost here?  Not hard to tell that the lady in this apartment shares her life with two calico cats.  Obviously a lover of four-legged furries, her space is shared with her somewhat noisy friends.

These efficiency- minded apartment dwellers (or perhaps the landlord) have enclosed their area.  Whether they needed the extra space, wanted to save on heating costs in the winter, or for whatever reason, no outdoor space for them.

These tenants use their space for storage.  They must be "keepers of the stuff" or maybe frequently say, "I'll just stick it out here until...  (I can't say much, I have the same problem sometimes in my garage!)

One fellow waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down at the other end (so far that I couldn't get a good shot even with my zoom) uses his space for his home gym----he can be seen doing his thing on his elliptical machine.

Another family has their space filled with tricycles, wagons, and sand pails (when I noticed this one, the batteries in BOTH cameras were low----no pic). 

As much as I like order and symmetry and matchy-matchy, it's been kind of fun to see the different things that different people do with their spaces.  I am reminded that the world is a better place because we are different.  I'm glad there are those who love animals enough to tolerate the dog hair and the cat litter boxes.  There are people out there who do amazing things with and for animals, and those animals often do wonderful things for other people.  I am glad there are people who don't kill everything that's green (that's why we have silk at our house!).  I stand in awe of gardeners and landscape architects that create beautiful spaces for us to enjoy    I am glad that some people love to have friends over, but I have learned to appreciate people who are more quiet and private by nature (I'm married to one).  Some of the best people I know are really into their "exercise thing" or really into the latest electronic gadgets or television transmission mediums.  I'm neither (obviously, I'm an overweight tech-tard), but I have learned to be appreciative of both.  I am glad for the "worker bees" in my life that have taught me to work hard, and those that are efficient and frugal---I've tried to learn from some, though I have a long way to go.  One of the people I love the most is the ultimate "keeper of the stuff"---my mom.  Though I can't deal with her sacks full of paper towel tubes that she

knows the Cub Scouts will need any day or her piles of magazines because they have good pictures that she is going to paint some day, there isn't a more angelic person on the face of the earth that would do anything for or give anything to just about anyone. 

So today, I'm glad for differences.  I'm glad for all of my friends and family members who specialize in something different, who celebrate life differently, who communicate differently, who share with me differently, for my life has been enriched in many different ways.