Brighten Up!

I shot this photograph on my way home from work one evening. I'm glad I did, because when I drove past the other night, the sign had been fixed and now says Princess Cleaners. B O R I N G.

I'm tired of cold, damp, bone-chilling weather.

But I'm grateful that my car has seat heaters. We are entering that phase of the winter of my discontent when I begin longing for warm weather. Still, we have not had a bad time of it here in Virginia, so I'm glad for that. You know those ear-warmers that look like thick headbands? The beanies-without-tops thingies that keep your ears and forehead all snuggly? I have one of those from L.L. Bean, and it will probably turn up one day in August when I need it most.

I've got a few photos for you to look at today. These homes are in Richmond's Northside district. Richmond is set up on an east-west axis. This orientation is based on the course of the James River. Most of Richmond's growth pushed westward, which meant that businessmen had the sun in their eyes to & from work. Lewis Ginter, 19th century Mr. Everything, decided to purchase and develop land north of downtown for gracious living.

Lewis Ginter bought up several hundred acres of farmland, laid roads, installed a sewer system, drilled artesian wells, and planted thousands of shade trees & miles of hedges. He even negotiated an extension of the city's electric trolley car line to Ginter Park for even easier commuting. The neighborhood was joined by others like Bellevue, Sherwood Park, and Barton Heights. Residential growth in the area continued in fits & starts from the late 1800's through the period prior to the Great Depression. You can see the range of years in the photos below.

In the 1950's, Chamberlayne Avenue was designated as Route 1, which brought commercial growth but changed the posh air of the immediate area. Tourist homes popped up, and several of the mansions were converted to nursing homes. Whores and junkies are common sights along this stretch of Route 1 these days, and the beautiful homes sit uneasily a few blocks away.

Here are a couple of the older homes. You can see that these pictures were taken on overcast days.
A few blocks away you will find a neighborhood of homes built in the 1920's. The brick home built in the English Cottage-style is my favorite.
The house below is where my friends Jeff & Vicki live. My favorite room is the one behind the windows on the shed dormer on the third floor. It's very cozy with sloping ceilings. It would be a perfect place to curl up with a good book.

Now let's have a little sunshine.