Sunday in Washington Heights

02/28/2010

Sunday in Washington Heights

After a busy Caturday, we woke up and were all still tired this morning.

Elektra stared into space.

Stephen's new orchid looked beautiful in the morning light, though.

This is a cattleya 'trick or treat' orchid, a tropical variety that's obviously quite happy with a western exposure in Washington Heights.

After Stephen finished his weekly watering of the orchids, we ate breakfast at the diner and then went for a walk down 158th Street, where we admired The Grinnell, which is perhaps the grandest apartment palace in upper Manhattan.

Predictably, we walked around it with a mix of envy and exhilaration as we considered the triangular form of the building against the late winter sky.

This is the western facade of the building, which is somewhat reminiscent of the Flatiron Building downtown.

I often tell people that the pre-war architecture of Washington Heights, when combined with the curving streets and hills, makes it the most 'European' of any neighborhood in the city. This is a view looking north on the Upper Riverside Drive from 158th Street. (158th Street, btw, which extends down to the Hudson, was originally an Indian path, so has an even longer history than that of the surrounding buildings.)

The Grinnell is not the only architecturally significant building in the vicinity, as this one -- right across the street -- demonstrates. Someday I'd like to take a tour of the upper floor, which faces south and west, and thus offers views of the river and the downtown skyline.

On the other corner is a smaller brick house from the same era (circa 1900-10) that offers a different kind of charm; the front portion is for sale if you're in the market for something!

We walked through the melting snow, dreaming of distant times but not unhappy to be here in our own.

Posted at 02:06 PM in Expression, Science Projects | Permalink

Comments

Wow. After four long months of nothing -- not a single post -- suddenly I received ten of them today. Don't understand to what I owe this windfall. Whatever, I am grateful. Good to hear from you again, Matt! (Now I have to tackle reading the other nine. Maybe there'll be an explanation....)

Posted by: James van Maanen | 02/28/2010 at 09:03 PM

Hey Jim! I realized today that something was wrong with the feed to my website, so you should start receiving again! Hope alls well. MG

Posted by: Matthew Gallaway | 02/28/2010 at 09:58 PM

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Music: Death Culture at Sea and Saturnine

Listen or download songs and records from my indie-rock past with Saturnine here and Death Culture at Sea here.

Music Video: Remembrance of Things Past

Watch the rock opera Remembrance of Things Past written and performed by Saturnine and Frances Gibson, starring Bennett Madison and Sheila McClear.

Video: The Chaos Detective

The Chaos Detective is a series about a man searching for 'identity' as he completes assignments from a mysterious organization. Watch the first episode (five parts) on YouTube.

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Expression//Reaction//ScienceProjects

02/28/2010