Pages

▼

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Steam


New York in July is a sauna. And we know what it's like to live in a top-floor walkup with no central air conditioning (that was in the tiny apartment attached to the original 66 square feet; it was a hotbox with an overworked and roaring air conditioning unit). Happily, that is no longer the case. At least the central air part. We still have two flights of stairs but that's nothing. Maybe you think having a yacht is a real luxury. Or a holiday house. To me, it's cool air on tap.

But we still sit outside of an evening. Outside is better than TV.


The echinacea and hyssop (Agastache) on the western side of the terrace are very happy.


The stone table has traveled with us since that first garden. To Harlem. To Carrol Gardens, and now here. The single, very heavy slab of fieldstone that is the tabletop for a sidewalk-found iron table frame was a gift from a long-ago boyfriend who is now quite dead (I didn't kill him. Alcohol and unhappiness did.) But his stone slab lives on. It is perhaps the heart of every garden I have made. Even when we had that amazingly long wooden table at 1st Place, the stone table was off to the side, working quietly, as it always has. 


The regal lilies have bloomed. Their scent at night is glorious.


And the fireworks that have shaken our nights are tapering off. But I climbed the fire escape to see them recently, and snapped this picture.

_______________


at

7 comments:

  1. Sue July 8, 2020 at 3:52 AM

    Oh it looks so pretty, and yes just high enough to capture any breeze in the air without a trudge up lots of stairs.

    I find I too carry little bits of people I have known and loved from place to place with me in the form of the tiniest of useful items. Not limbs or body parts just books, plant pots and teeny tiny stools. A couple of teaspoons from my childhood that have come with me through two marriages, a tiny stool that I used to sit on as I watched my Great Uncle paint in his house, he was always painting and I always loved to watch. Memories in useful objects, double whammy :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. GJuly 8, 2020 at 10:38 PM

    You make everything you touch beautiful... and for me, nothing tops off a scene like this like twinkly lights... I’m a magpie. 😍

    ReplyDelete
  3. Leslie in OregonJuly 9, 2020 at 3:40 AM

    You create and cast a lovely spell, Marie. As always, thank you��

    ReplyDelete
  4. Karen L RJuly 11, 2020 at 3:39 PM

    You live in NYC so graciously, Marie. xo

    ReplyDelete
  5. Debbie - Mountain MamaJuly 13, 2020 at 4:45 PM

    Your tiny slice of heaven, right there on that little balcony! I'm envious of your success with lilies - the chipmunks devour mine, I have had to finally give up. Sad as I adore lilies, and the scent is divine. Gorgeous, as always, Marie!

    ReplyDelete
  6. LynnJuly 13, 2020 at 5:42 PM

    Beautiful garden.

    ReplyDelete
  7. CJJuly 31, 2020 at 12:27 PM

    I absolutely love this little garden! Looks like a true place of respite.

    ReplyDelete

Comments on posts older than 48 hours are moderated for spam.