Thursday, June 3, 2021

Beautiful things


My man planted those roses on a trellis in the churchyard last year and they are flourishing. Yesterday, when he stopped by the church to sign some checks (he's the finance committee guy), his babies looked like this as they posed exuberantly for his camera. This is a man who, growing up, imagined marriage as being able to mow his own lawn and prune his own rose bushes. Little did he know he would end up with a city slicker and make life in an apartment in a concrete garden of eight million souls, so it's a gift that he has not just our windowsill but also that churchyard on a Harlem side street where he can answer the yen to grow beautiful things.

What a lovely time we had last night. Our daughter and her love are back in the city as of Tuesday, and will reside for the summer in an airy sublet in Brooklyn, a building with amenities I didn't know folks like us could aspire to in the city, perks like a garage beneath the building with rows of gleaming Audis that can be rented on a whim by residents at twenty percent less than anywhere else, and an expansive and beautifully appointed roof deck, with barbecue grills, fire pits, and overhead fairy lights on a wooden pergola, plus a huge screen on one wall for weekly movie nights courtesy of the management. 

A nice surprise for all was that both the residents and staff of the building are very diverse, all the united colors of Benetton (always loved that ad campaign), including mid-career professionals and millennial families, along with young hipster couples and transplants from other places who're new to the city for work or school. "We're experimenting with the bougie lifestyle this summer," my girl joked, and invited us to enjoy it with them. And last night we did. My son was working, but our niece who used to live with us and recently moved to Brooklyn joined us, and we all ate dinner up on the roof around a fire pit with the twilight sky arched above. For me, the feeling was of being able to truly exhale.

I didn't get many photos but there will be other chances, though the summer couple's dance card is already full, what with the city reopened and practically everyone we know now vaccinated. Plus most of their friends live in Brooklyn, and many of their business school cohorts are also in the city for summer internships, and they are a very social group if the past year in Boston is any indication. One year of grad school down already. One more year to go and then my girl and her guy will return to the city for good. At least I hope so. They are so happy to be home, they say. They were practically levitating with joy, even though they will both still have to do their day jobs. Oh to be young and tilting into the wind. The city has a certain electrical charge, and they plugged right back in. Even Munch seems excited to be back in town.





17 comments:

  1. Have a wonderful summer together, all the ingredients are there!

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  2. Being outside is always a wonderful feeling. I was feeling down this morning and went for a walk with the dogs. It helped me drag my head out of my ass:)

    It sounds like you guys had a wonderful time and if I had to live in a massive city, I would want those amenities too. The old hospital I used to work at had a rooftop garden donated by a good family whose mother died there. The garden was such a boon when days were hard, even when days were good.

    Your hubby has a green thumb and the roses are beautiful, as are the children.

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  3. I could feel the love and joy and happiness coming right out of every word. From blooming flowers and blooming love, family time and a summertime to look forward... life is good. Enjoy every moment. Wonderful photos too!

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  4. This post is the best thing to have happened all week! So good to see y'all looking bougie and cool and happy, such joy. The roses are magnificent along side the bricks building, Looks well established, absolutely beautiful! Xx love

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  5. That sublet sounds like a large slice of heaven. Good for them for taking up such great housing. Munch is looking dapper as always.
    The roses are beautiful.

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  6. SUCH joy and beauty. I love all of this! Your daughter and her light are shining on true and bright. Her sweetheart, your sweetheart, YOU! Ain't nothing wrong with the bougie life. That's what I say.
    And sweet little Munch. He's a lucky dog.
    Tell your good-looking man that his roses look gorgeous to this dirt farmer. I bet they smell like heaven.

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  7. lucky them, lucky you. I have never lived in an apartment, can't even imagine how restricted I would feel. but I might manage if I lived in that building.

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  8. What a joyful post! Thank you for sharing your lovely family with me!

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  9. Nice to see everyone having a good time together -- including Munch!

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  10. Funny how life turns out...my imagined life was always in a huge city like NYC and living in a high-rise just as you are now...and then I married a man and ended up living in a town of THIRTEEN HUNDRED people. And a lawn and a garden and lots and lots of flowering things. But I still want to see NYC and all the stuff I thought I'd be around everyday, at 70 though, I am thinking it won't happen. You and your husband are welcome to come see me in Hillsboro, WI anytime! He wants rural, we have it, from tiny farms to hills to all his heart desires. Call me, ha. Or maybe seriously.

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  11. It has to be wonderful for you to have your daughter back in the city. City life in an upscale apartment near family sounds like perfection.

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  12. It's wonderful that your husband has an outlet for his green thumb and the church has an attentive gardener. A double win.

    I think even I could live in an apartment building if it had all those perks! I'm glad your daughter is back close to you for the summer.

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  13. Coming Home is always Special. Your Husband's Roses at the Church are gorgeous, I couldn't live without a Garden. That Sublet the Kids have sounds amazing, if an Apartment Building has all of that it feels complete. Many Summer Adventures and Memories in the making.

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  14. It just occurred to me that what you bring to these posts is that island spirit which led you to find the love of your life and then together to nurture two children, the spirit that has been carried down through the generations, and is being carried forward by your grown children and relatives. Tended and cared for, blooming where you are planted, like those beautiful roses your man planted in the churchyard. So much love shared here. Thank you.

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  15. The roses look beautiful. So pleased he has somewhere to use his gardening skills. I know how much joy I get from being outside cutting and digging.

    Enjoy this summer with your daughter. These years are precious.

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