'Last Night The Old Gringo Smiled'

Hi folks! Nice to see you here in my neighborhood!

msolga, I agree with you that the proposed renewal project with marinas, condos etc is likely to make it more difficult for poorer people to remain in the neighborhood. I suspect that that effect is at least five years away but nevertheless that doesn't make it any more palatable.

Meanwhile Providence is bursting with development in other areas as well. There are old factories being rehabilitated and turned into upscale housing; in recent weeks there have been announcements of plans to build three new hotels, plans for several high-rise, condo buildings;
and for new luxury apartments.

that's a lot of activity for a city this size (about 160,000) and there's no end in sight. Providence is becoming a very attractive city for young professionals. It's physically very attractive, it has an unusually large and diverse array of restaurants for a city this size, it's on the ocean, it's less than an hour by commuter train from Boston (where housing costs are going through the roof) and it's only three hours by train from New York City.

On the down side real estate taxes are high and likely to rise again as the city struggles to bring its schools up to par and to pay for a bloated city payroll and very generous pension benefits owed to an growing army
of retired city workers....

...Anyway, I'm sure that's much more than you want to know about that stuff!


Osso, 'Seckels' eh? are they edible?



******************




THE LILAC



On the East side of 'La Casa del Gringo Viejo', outside my kitchen window, (facing the two Miguels) I have a white lilac.
I transplanted it in January of this year --yes, that's what I said, JANUARY.

I had given it to my Mom over ten years ago, and planted it for her in her front yard. After she died last August I told myself I had to dig it up and plant it in my yard.

Well, don't you know, time passed, I was busy with this, busy with that, and before I knew it, it was Winter and the ground was frozen.

I reluctantly accepted that it was another one of those good ideas that we never get around to doing.

Then a funny thing happened. In order to sell Mom's house I was required to replace the house's obsolete septic system (Massachusetts law is TOUGH on this) . The first step was for the contractor to do a 'perc' test which required digging a hole with a backhoe at the site of the proposed new system. Well, you guessed it, the lilac was right in the middle of the designated spot.

So, on a day in early January I arrived at the house (a little late) to find that the engineer had already left with the soil samples (for the perc test) and the backhoe operator was preparing to re-fill the hole he had dug.

...but, way up on the very top of a large pile of earth, fully intact, though its roots were bare to the sub-freezing air,
...was the lilac.

Well, to make a long story short, the backhoe operator was quite cooperative. He picked it up in his bucket and placed it in the bed of my truck.

The latter was a little tricky because, although my pickup's bed is eight feet long, it is enclosed by a 'cap'....and I had to cut the lilac back some as it was about nine feet tall not counting its roots.

Anyway, I brought it home and, a few days later during a brief spell of slightly warmer weather, and with the aid of pick and shovel,
I replanted it outside my kitchen window.


Now it's wait...wait...wait

......to see if it survived.

(stay tuned)

I recall Providence as a very pleasant city. I thought the rent a bit high for one in my circumstance. But that was about 29 years ago.

Edgar,

I'm told that a 2 bedroom apartment nowadays rents for $800-$1200 (usually without heat)

But I had a great time there and would like one day to revisit.

More perhaps than you wanted to know about pears ---

http://www.foodsubs.com/Pears.html

http://www.orchard-group.uklinux.net/glos/pears/index.php

http://int.primopiatto.barilla.com/lacucinaitaliana/inostrimenu/imenubarilla/portate/htm/55853_awContent.htm

http://www.wholehealthmd.com/refshelf/foods_view/1,1523,62,00.html

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, interesting visuals!
Lots of links to investigate! Thanks Andrew & nimh!


But the jjorge house is gone! Dammit! I really wanted to take a peek!

One of these days I'll take the time to learn how one inserts pictures into a post...

Wow, When I finish reading all this stuff I'll be a pear expert! (kinda)


It makes me think back to one of the classic Steve Allen 'Tonight' shows.
(Is there anyone besides me old enough to remember when S.A. was the 'Tonight' show host?)

One night Steve had as a guest a beauty pageant winner. Well, you know how they have 'Cotton Queen' and 'Miss this' and 'Miss that'....
This particularly well endowed lass had won a pageant sponsored by pear producers (you can probably see where this is going)

When Steve asked her her title she looked at him with dewy-eyed innocence and proclaimed 'I'm Miss Pear'.

Steve did most of it with his eyes, he just LOOKED at her and smiled slightly while the audience roared. Then he said something like, 'Well there's no question that they picked the right person' ...etc.
Steve then asked her to tell him something ABOUT pears and 'Miss Pear proceded to tell him that they came in all varieties. With the same look of innocence she said something like:

"There are big pears and little pears, some have a rounder shape and some are more pointed, some are softer and some are firmer and they're all good to taste.' --She may even have asked him what kind of pear he liked the most.

Each statement by her elicited a different facial expression from Steve as he supposedly struggled to keep a straight face....and the audience, of course, loved it.

Steve was as good a host as Johnny Carson, for sure.

Snow On March 24, in Providence Rhode Island



Whatever You pour Lord,
We always drain our cup,
And we soulfully vow
to just, 'offer it up',


Plague and pestilence,
Quake, hurricane,
You've sent our way Lord,
We didn't complain,


We accepted our pennance,
We shouldered our pain
and willingly suffered
again and again,


Though Your Way is inscrutable,
We know that You know best,
We don't try to understand,
We just endure each test,


But on March twenty-fourth?
MORE white fluffy stuff?
Oh come on Lord,

Enough is enough!

-jjorge

...

But on March twenty-fourth?
MORE white fluffy stuff?
Oh come on Lord,

Enough is enough!

Yes, indeed! This doesn't seem at all fair!

Time for spring to spronnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng in jjorge's garden!

well, let's see now...where was I...hmmm... oh yeh
the lilac. I am happy to report that the lilac is thriving in its new home outside my kitchen window.

The window is only about 10 feet from the sidewalk so, in a few weeks when the lilac blooms, people who pass by will be drenched in that great fragrance. I like that.

I have a strange feeling of responsibility to let my neighbors share in the enjoyment of this great house and yard.

Ironically, I may be selling this house fairly soon and moving to the *Roanoke-Blacksburg area in Virginia. I know, I know, you think I'm crazy because I just moved here 1 1/2 years ago.

In fact the gravitational pull of Providence IS strong -- I love the city, I love my house (that I only bought 1 1/2 years ago) and I love this Unitarian church community that I recently joined. On top of all that, the two people I love most - my daughter and step-daughter- live in NY City and Providence respectively.

So, why in the world would I consider relocating??

1. The cost of living here is high ( buying the house I did was like falling in love with a high maintenance woman!) eg. $2800 year real estate tax, $2000+ for heating oil, $1200 per year for water, $800 for city sewer fee, etc.

If I lived in a less expensive locale, I could retire much sooner, or at least not feel that I HAD to keep working..

2. I have always envisioned that retirement (for me) would include
moving to a new place. In fact I have been researching retirement
places for some time.

3. I now have family in the Roanoke area, ie. my brother and his
family moved to Blacksburg last year.

4. When I visited my brother last Fall I was very attracted to the
area.

So-o-o-o.....stay tuned.


* http://www.able2know.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=50500&highlight=

Well, it's not...

...not....a done deal.

I haven't made a final decision yet, and the time frame would be 1-3 years.

I can understand the "expense" side of things, jjorge. If living where you are is too expensive to maintain, well what can you do but change where you live? But it seems such a shame! But then, I'm one of those folk who couldn't imagine moving to somewhere else, far away ... I'd miss my home base too much.

Are you still enjoying your neighbourhood? Or perhaps you're disengaging a little, mentally preparing yourself for a likely shift?

msolga,

No, I'm not disengaging. I have a couple of neighborhood stories to tell
when I have a little more time. And my house? well, I've been working feverishly in the yard. Re-designing the landscape, planting flowering shrubs and vines, perrenials etc. If/when I sell this house it will be a jewel.

I had a dozen or so members of my UU church over last night for a
pot luck supper and they were all raving about the house (and how it's decorated I might add)

I could retire and still afford to stay here if I were to get a roommate, but I'm ambivalent about that and wouldn't want to depend financially on it.

Thanks for your interest.

PS I do plan to post some pictures of the house, yard etc. before too long.