Tabatha Deans

AN UPTOWN HISTORY LESSON
After doing a bit of sleuthing, I found out that my apartment building was built in 1905, about 106 years ago. I believe it was originally built as a hotel, and can only imagine the many stories that have been played out within these walls. I picture the likes of famous writers such as Jack Kerouac staying here, indulging in the nightlife and writing wonderful tales of life as it was back then.
The age of the building certainly explains some of its quirks/downsides/character, such as the radiator that has a mind of its own. It’s not unfathomable that the bear claw bathtub has been here since its original installation around the 1900’s. The water trickles out of the taps slowly, but the tub is nearly two feet deep and there seems to be an endless supply of hot water, making for a very nice bathing experience.
The windows are of the old string and pulley style, with no room for screens. The pulleys guide them up and down, and it has taken a little fiddling to master just the right point at which the system catches and holds the window open. In the movies you see people hanging out the window and having it come crashing down on their heads. I’ve been fortunate enough not to have my head hanging out when window when it comes crashing down, but the thump and rattle it makes has scared me on more than one occasion.
My front door has little or no sealing around it, so when I turn off the lights at night there’s a constant line of light that frames the door. I’ve remedied that by draping my pashimina, the one that Jessica gave me for Christmas, from the top of the door each night, letting it hang down along the edge of the door, blocking out the intruding light. I bunch a sweatshirt up along the bottom of the door, and am able to successfully block most of the light out.
The light from the alley and city behind me penetrates the wooden blinds, making casting a striped glow across the apartment each night. I pull the curtains tight and tuck them under the bottom of the blinds, but still the light penetrates, making it impossible for the apartment to ever get completely dark. But the soft glow, combined with the street noises below from my open window have become comforting to me, and I find myself sleeping a little better, and for longer periods at a time, each night.

April 10, 2011 - Posted by Tabatha Stewart | Uncategorized