My alley
I've started a new temp job at an office in downtown Knoxville. It's a rotten, stressful job (well, not too bad, but not any fun either) but I can't afford to be picky. And it has the benefit of windows looking out onto an alley
( Read more... )
On Sansom St., between 7th and 8th, which is where the diamond merchants and silversmiths are, I looked in the windows on the upper floors. Everything was dull and grungy and gritty. The apartments looked poorly lit, and there was dust everywhere. A strange dichotomy.
Around 4th and South, where there are a lot of clubs and night spots, at least one of the apartments was swinging and hip as well. A very modern and stylish lamp was hanging from the ceiling. The room was brightly lit and very colorful. There were artful bits of bric-a-brac placed along the window sills.
As I passed by the brick buildings of Society Hill I saw that all the windows had shutters closing off the view of their lower halves, but through the upper halves I could see brilliant white, unadorned walls and celings with simple but elegant moldings. The lighting was offset and tasteful.
Finally, on 9th and Passyunk, as I got a cheesesteak from Pat's Steaks for the ride home I looked at the run down row houses. Simple, inexpensive, mismatched furniture. Surely some pictures of the Virgin Mary, this being an old Italian neighborhood just a couple blocks from the Italian Market. All down one block lights were strung from one side of the street to the other, arching over the pavement, still proclaiming 'Happy Holidays!'
I love looking in city windows and wondering what's happening on the other side of the glass.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment