Before we
moved to this condo, we lived in a house that we bought – among other reasons –
for its many, many windows. Something I later came to regret because each of
those windows was mullioned, twelve-over-twelve. And the mullions weren’t
inset; they were wooden, which made washing them a tedious, hand-numbing event.
Window washing never having been my
thing, last week I asked around and found a guy, the best friend of the son of
a Mahjong friend. Stupendous! Fabulous! And cheap! Now I may not wait such an embarrassingly
long time in between cleanings.
Now that we live in the commune, our view is
very limited. Even though we’re an end unit, the only first floor window on the
side is a tiny one in the bathroom.
and windows
at the back.
So, when we woke up the other morning at 7:00 a.m. to chain saws and woodchippers, I wondered if they had finally decided to take
down what My Guy and I call the ‘possum tree. It’s earned its name over the
years because while it has glorious blooms in the spring – for about 5 days –
the rest of the time it looks like it’s at death’s door.
The tree sits on the blind side of the
house, so after fruitlessly looking for activity out of the front and back
windows, I figured I’d just wait till I drove out of the garage to check.
(Okay, yes, I could have gone upstairs and peered down but I wasn’t all that
interested - or energetic.)
Later, I realized the itzy bathroom
window gave a perfectly fine view of the still-intact bare branches of the
tree.
Duh.




Apparently it's a thing in homebuilding now to have windows at the front and back but not on the sides. Maybe this is so houses can be more closely spaced? The house I grew up in had windows on the sides, but when we sold it, the new owners bricked up the side windows so now the side walls are mostly blank. Very weird, I thought.
ReplyDeleteSo what were the chainsaws for?
As it turned out, he landscaping crew was taking down a tree across the street.
ReplyDeleteCalling it the "possum tree" is inspired!
ReplyDeleteI used to wish for big windows for plenty of view and incoming light, but these days I prefer the small windows I've got. There's much less time spent cleaning them.
ReplyDeleteIs there anybody who actually enjoys washing windows?
ReplyDeleteExcellent point, Djan.
Delete