Both Sides

When I am walking, my brain is often in neutral (or, in cycling terms, freewheeling), so I often “notice” things without actually giving them my full attention.

The other day I “noticed” a holiday flag in a neighbor’s yard that appeared to say “YOL.” I fleetingly speculated that this might be “Yule” in some Scandinavian language, but, since I couldn’t actually see the entire flag, I figured I just hadn’t read it properly and went back to my previous train of thought.

As I was passing today, less preoccupied, I was somewhat abashed to realize that I’d seen the back of a flag that, on its face, proclaimed “JOY.”

Chapel of Love

A new addition to a neighbor’s yard caught my eye yesterday. Although it purports to be a birdhouse, it is only a few feet off the ground, so I suspect it’s just a useless lawn ornament. What especially intrigued me, though, was what appeared to be a cross on top of it, making it look like a church.

On closer inspection, this proved to be a fleur-de-lis, but there actually is a cross on the front gable. Perhaps it is meant to be a bird wedding chapel?

Construction Update

As of yesterday the stairs have been installed in the house that replaced the little pink house, so this weekend I should be able to explore the upstairs. On the other construction site, the one that had just been cleared, marker posts were up last Saturday, and on Monday there were two cement mixers pouring the footings. To my surprise, yesterday a concrete-block foundation was being built on the newly poured concrete (doesn’t it need some time to cure?), so it would appear that the builder is in a hurry.

And in a surprising development, the house that I thought surely was slated for demolition is now sporting a building permit for “Int. Demo” (interior demolition). The listed contractor is one of the area’s premier fine homebuilders and remodelers, so I’m sure the “renovation” will be done tastefully and well, but it will probably be so drastic that little of the original will remain.

Signs of Recovery?

If housing starts are an indicator of an improving economy, then perhaps it is encouraging that there is a small pile of building materials on one of the cleared lots in my neighborhood. It’s a very small pile, about enough lumber to cut up for stakes to tie string between, and the lot hasn’t been graded (if that’s in the plans), but still it’s progress.

The real estate market here has been almost totally stagnant for several years (since about the time we put my late father’s house on the market, naturally), but the neighborhood also shows signs of optimism. Some neighbors who are about to be grandparents have decided to downsize, saying they want less house to keep up so it will be easier for them to get away to visit the new grandchild. (My thought: Where will you put the children and grandchildren when they come to visit you?) It’s entirely possible that some rich Yankee will be willing to pay $1.5 million for a 3300 SF house with a 400 SF screened porch overlooking the bay and an 800 SF guest house behind, so perhaps they’ll sell it.

At the same time, the owner of a cleared lot a block from the bluff has apparently decided that the market may now be ready to absorb another vacant lot at $395,000. Both of these properties are being offered For Sale By Owner, so all the owners have invested so far is a yard sign and a box of photocopied data sheets. Who knows? It just might work!

Still Intriguing

Last Sunday I wrote about the latest new construction in our neighborhood. Today was the first time I’d gotten a chance to scope it out again—and actually the first time I’d even been out walking since Monday. Tuesday it was raining (and in any case I had my ballet class for exercise). Wednesday was lovely—no rain and a high in the 70s—but I had too many Rotary chores. Thursday I had ballet again, and by Friday it had turned bitterly cold. While waiting for a client, I dressed for walking, trying to persuade myself I would go out as soon as she left. She’d said she would come in the morning but actually didn’t show up till 1:30 p.m., by which time I knew I was not going to be able to leave the house (where I was already bundled up and freezing as our furnace struggled against the chill).

Yesterday it rained all day, with thunderstorms in the evening and heavy rain all night, accumulating nearly 4 inches, so my inspection of the house today was limited to tiptoeing gingerly around the edges of the slab, avoiding the inch-deep pool of water in the center. Even so, I was able to refresh my memory of the floor plan, and I am still mystified.

There are four rooms (or spaces) across the front. The farthest right is clearly the master bedroom. The other three are less easy to define. All three open onto the porch in front. In back, all three open onto a large space, extending the width of the house, that I take to be a Great Room on the left and kitchen on the right.

The farthest left room is connected to the Great Room by a short passage between a powder room and some sort of closet. For this reason I had previously decided it must be the foyer. It is now clear, however, that the center space, as I had originally assumed, must in fact be the foyer; now that the second floor has been framed up, it can be seen that the stairwell is here.

The room to the right of the foyer (and opening off it) might be a dining room or a parlor. The room on the left, since it does not open off the foyer, I am inclined to think may be a study rather than the dining room, but if it is the dining room, then perhaps the closet is a butler’s pantry.

Since there is as yet no stairway, I was unable to explore the second floor, but I could see from the front that there will be at least four chambers upstairs, at least two of which will open onto an upstairs porch (above the main front porch). I look forward to further investigation as construction continues.