Six Month Report

Following up on my report posted after our First 90 Days here.

As I walk around town lately I've been thinking a lot lately about Robert Ashley's video opera "Perfect Lives". There's a bit[ref]ep 4, "The Bar"
[/ref] where he compares children to the roots of a tree,

’n their beauty
To our eyes is in their gnarledness

...and I'm starting to look at Philadelphia through that lens. Our neighborhood has no deficit of gnarledness that reveals its beauty reluctantly. Travel a few blocks southeast of our house and things get much more conventionally pretty and nice, but the layer of grunge where we are is growing on me.

I should probably reword that.

I've seen more rainbows in the last 6 months than the rest of my life { .img-caption }
...and more beer as well { .img-caption }

Living in close proximity to people who are very different from you is a good thing, and a bit radicalizing.

Frightening children near the playgrgound { .img-caption }

Living in a big city that's still human-scale is a good thing.

Jane Jacobs was right about dense, walkable neighborhoods and knowing your neighbors.

rooftop panorama { .img-caption }

Public transit advocates are right about how to move around cities; living at the intersection of several major bus/trolley lines makes it easy to move around cheaply. Fingers x-ed that the SEPTA budget is restored soon...

Amtrak trains to NYC are frequent, fast, and inexpensive if you plan far enough ahead; not that much more than taking NJ Transit from Fanwood had been, and a nicer ride.

Or maybe you prefer riding with the Fletcher Street Riding Club { .img-caption }

When we were on our first visit to this house, our realtor took us to the roof deck and offhandedly mentioned that just down the hill, right behind the museum was where they launched the fireworks for the city's big Independence Day show (which this year was supposed to have been headlined by LL Cool J, who canceled his performance in solidarity with striking city workers), and we'd have the best view in the city right there. At that point, the decision was made in Kath's mind. If they had been disappointing, the move would have been a mistake.

Mid-day on the 4th, we walked down behind the museum and then down the trail along the river, not long after they finished prepping the show, it looks like:

All the shells, ready to launch { .img-caption }

The show was not a disappointment:

Barrage #1 { .img-caption }
Barrage #2 { .img-caption }
Barrage #3 { .img-caption }

So I guess we're staying put for a while.

Backlinks: {#backlinks}

• Annual Report
• First 90 Days

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