chas_lou

As I think I mentioned before, I've heard a lot about this "21st century" from our young President-elect, so I decided I should use my birthday money to buy a digital camera.  Well I braved Best Buy on Black Friday.... aside from finding a place to park, it wasn't that bad an experience (notwithstanding the voluptuous girls who think they should wear low-rise jeans a day after Thanksgiving).

So with my dog Friday, we set out to take some pictures of my gentrifying, historic neighborhood, Clifton.   Here's a map, with our route in red:



Alfie was distracted several times by nature's call, and squirrels, but we tried to get some good pics of what the neighborhood looks like, starting with these houses on Sycamore Ave.  (there are lots of shotguns and Victorian-style houses in Clifton.)  Doesn't the second one remind you of a gingerbread house?  If you saw it close up, you would see the scalloped siding; I can almost taste lemon bars.



The last house above, the blue one with the Obama sign, has 4 dogs in the yard and a chicken coop in back.  They must be latte liberals who raise their own free range eggs.

These are all on Keats Avenue, two blocks away from me.  Some of them remind me of New Orleans.  The first pic reminds me of the set of A Streetcar Named Desire.  I think the color of the next two houses is what reminded me of the Crescent City.



The building in the last pic above is actually only 2 years old.  There's an older building right next to it; together they're a condo complex, Keats Landing, which overlooks a hillside.

We next walked down Keats towards Frankfort Ave.  What's that noise?  Hoot hoot!  Why, it's a train:



Stymied, we turned around and came back up Keats, and through an alley where this corrugated steel house stands out:



Doesn't it look like some eccentric old artist lives there?  Or maybe an ax murderer, I can't decide which.  Following the alley over to Jane Street, I see this house straight ahead.  The other two are on Jane St. too.  The one with the Christmas decorations also decorates for Halloween, Easter, Fourth of July, etc.  (I think I saw a model of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria sailing across the yard for Columbus Day.)  The last shotgun house in this set gives you an idea of the solid political leanings of my neighborhood.  I think there was one house on this block that had a McCain/Palin yard sign.



Finally, we come back home to The Chateau condominiums, where the holly berries are on display.  Think Melrose Place, without all the sunshine, young people, or sexy goings-on.  Well, ok, so it's more like Melrose Place meets The Golden Girls.  My condo is upstairs in the part with the tower. I lost all my hair when some dashing demoiseau tried to climb up the window.



In the courtyard, when the weather is nice, we have jousts and Renaissance Fairs.  Just kidding.  (But hey, maybe I'll suggest that to the condo board!) Lastly, we come back to my front door, where while I was out Santa's little fairies decorated for me:



If Charlie Brown was gay, he would have picked out that pink tree with blue and silver ornaments....

Hope you enjoyed this little jaunt around my neighborhood.