Saturday, October 04, 2008

Bearded Brownstone, School for Trees, Virginia Creeper, Donuts.

This is the front of my sister and brother-in-law's place, Hazelthorne, or, alternately, "Eddie's Place." Contrary to what a neighbor told Mary at one point, that stuff growing there is not poison oak, but Virginia creeper. I took this photo in August; right about now the leaves are probably turning a briliant red. I'll get to see it in a few weeks' time, when I head back for my 20th college reunion.
This is a view from inside the living room, looking out the front. In the summer it feels a bit like one is underwater.
I saw this on a walk I took back in May, on the Upper West Side. It don't know what this plant is, but I loved it.



This school is a few blocks from my house. I wish I could get access, to see what it looks like inside. Would almost be worth breaking in, if it weren't on a busy thoroughfare where I would be caught before I even got over the gate, no matter what time of day. Oh well.


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My dad is one of the luckiest people I know. I can't tell you how many times he would run a mundane errand, a trip to the bank say, only to come home with a look of wonder in his eyes and a box of donuts in his arms to say "I was the millionth customer through the doors at the bank (or grocery store, or gas station, or dentist's office) so they gave me a free box of donuts!" It's remarkable how often this happened to him. Funny too that it's always donuts, never balloons, or swizzle sticks or shot glasses or promotional bumper stickers or something. Nope. Only donuts. Jelly donuts, specifically, which is even more lucky, because by a funny coincidence those happen to be Dad's favorite. Mom never buys the "millionth customer" story; she just rolls her eyes, takes the box, and saves it for the next meal's dessert.

My roommate left a box of donuts sitting on the kitchen table; in our developing roommate language, this means, "help yourself." I wonder if he won them as a door prize? I hope he's not as lucky as my dad. Mom isn't here to intervene.

10 comments:

Greg said...

Oh, I just adore that green wall at Hazelthorne (well, on this crappy monitor I assume it's green...at least I know tis growing...) and love it twice as much from the view within!

Patrick, we must work on your sense of daring and adventure...maybe you need a partner in crime to get over that wall! (and with luck, we'll be the One Thousand over the wall and receive a boon of some kind!)

Birdie said...

That home is filled with abundant life, inside and out.

Imagine how long that school's been in session, that trees have grown tall enough to peek out the windows! The building beckons like a winding path, doesn't it?

I have a similar luck as your dad, mine with parking spaces: I get GREAT parking spots all the time. I've learned that my mother and daughter share this parking karma.

Java said...

Your dad sounds like the most fascinating character.

The old school building has lots of character, too. What's the story with that building? I, too, would love to go exploring in there. The architecture interests me.

Eric said...

The same thing happens to me that happens to your dad. But somehow, for me, it's always a bottle of single malt scotch. VBG!

Tony Adams said...

The plant growing on that Upper West Side townhouse is a very healthy wisteria. The pods you see in the photo produce glossy black round seeds that are poisonous.

Virginia Creeper is a delightful plant that is easy to grow and does change into a great red. It also produces bunches of colorful grapes that are alas inedible.

dpaste said...

I was marveling at your Dad's consistent good fortune until the give-away at the end of the paragraph. That is too too charming.

Butch said...

I love your dad's ability to improve the situation by "winning" the prize of doughnuts. He's known for a long time that he hasn't fooled anyone but what is one to say about his creative sweet tooth? ;-) We have a lot of English Ivy growing naturally at our place. If it isn't controlled it will ruin a wooden fence and our fir trees are not safe if we let the vines grow up the huge trees. It is said that the vines will eventually pull down the tree. As beautiful as the ivy is, it also can have disinigrate the bricks of a building as well. I still think it is beautiful.

Sooo-this-is-me said...

I love that old school, it is beautiful. I think it would be great if someone saved it from time and turned it into an art gallery, museum or something along those lines.

That is just too funny about your Dad's good luck, also funny in that I am going to post this week about one of my Dad's little quirks which runs along these same lines.

dantallion said...

Nothing says good fortune like a box of jelly donuts...lol. Your Dad sounds like a real character.

Indigo said...

Indigo Incarnates

yeah... doughnuts are always cool :)

We have a bunch of vines crawling up our house too.

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