Out Your Back Door

[Fading Fast]

SurfGent, beautiful scenery outside your home. Having grown up with the cartoons of the '50s and '60s, I would not be surprised to see Road Runner blast by chased by Wile E Coyote.

 

[DJH]

Out back. Downtown Fort Worth on the left, the Trinity River flows left to right and the Stockyards area on the far right.

Cheers!
David

 

[SurfGent]

SurfGent, beautiful scenery outside your home. Having grown up with the cartoons of the '50s and '60s, I would not be surprised to see Road Runner blast by chased by Wile E Coyote.

Lol, that's what my wife and I call them. There all over out hear. The snakes we call Hiss, like the snake from the sword and the stone Disney movie. The black birds we call Belshazar. The rabbits we call
Zham-bo-ha like from the movie, The gods must be crazy. You notice I don't have to much stuff around my house cause a box or stuff stacked around my place is a place for critters to hide in. One thing I can tell you about this place. It's quite. The silence is wonderful and the stars at night are a sight to behold.

 

[greatestescaper]

Lol, that's what my wife and I call them. There all over out hear. The snakes we call Hiss, like the snake from the sword and the stone Disney movie. The black birds we call Belshazar. The rabbits we call
Zham-bo-ha like from the movie, The gods must be crazy. You notice I don't have to much stuff around my house cause a box or stuff stacked around my place is a place for critters to hide in. One thing I can tell you about this place. It's quite. The silence is wonderful and the stars at night are a sight to behold.

I live a stone's throw from the McDonald Observatory and some of the darkest skies around, and it is magnificent. Our house has a sun roof over the master bed which makes for a wonderful sight as I settle for bed. My brother, who lives in NYC was actually very nervous his first night here. He wanted to go out and look at the stars, but was worried about walking out more than 10 feet from the front porch for fear of the local wildlife (mountain lions and such). And, when he spied the light from my neighbors house across the valley about a mile away, he remarked "THE BEACONS ARE LIT! GONDOR CALLS FOR AID!" And now I can't help but think of that as I set out in the evenings and watch the sun set.

 

[greatestescaper]

Wow, and I thought I had a nice backyard. Yours are all so gorgeous compared to mine:

I'm certainly thankful for the privilege of living where I do. In fact I pause at least once each day to contemplate the beauty out here, but really, I think it's the company that makes a place enjoyable. And so I'll second the notion that I'd hang out in your yard. In fact, since leaving, visiting New York City, and making a point of spending time with people dear to me, makes the city a far better place than it was when I left. I've recently joked that if it were always that pleasant I may not have left in the first place. Although really, home is where your heart is, and for me that will always be the mountains of West Texas.

 

[SurfGent]

I'm certainly thankful for the privilege of living where I do. In fact I pause at least once each day to contemplate the beauty out here, but really, I think it's the company that makes a place enjoyable. And so I'll second the notion that I'd hang out in your yard. In fact, since leaving, visiting New York City, and making a point of spending time with people dear to me, makes the city a far better place than it was when I left. I've recently joked that if it were always that pleasant I may not have left in the first place. Although really, home is where your heart is, and for me that will always be the mountains of West Texas.

I hear ya. When I go back to San Francisco / California to visit my parents and friends do my business and sail my boat. I enjoy my visits and I have a better time visiting than I did living there. A phrase I coin'd awhile ago was that California is the edge of Western Civilization. What that means gets into all kinds of topics but when I come back home to my patch of desert I feel so at home. With the quite the stars my guns and the country folk neighbors. It's another world literally. It's funny how we can be from somewhere living somewhere new. Our ancestors did it all the time. Alot of people stay somewhere and struggle instead of moving somewhere else that makes sense. Anyway I'm rambling

 

[greatestescaper]

I hear ya. When I go back to San Francisco / California to visit my parents and friends do my business and sail my boat. I enjoy my visits and I have a better time visiting than I did living there. A phrase I coin'd awhile ago was that California is the edge of Western Civilization. What that means gets into all kinds of topics but when I come back home to my patch of desert I feel so at home. With the quite the stars my guns and the country folk neighbors. It's another world literally. It's funny how we can be from somewhere living somewhere new. Our ancestors did it all the time. Alot of people stay somewhere and struggle instead of moving somewhere else that makes sense. Anyway I'm rambling

Like George Carlin once observed, "if you don't like the weather in your neighborhood...move." After helping my brother with a family history project I realized I owe it to my ancestors to pick up and make what changes in my life that I feel may better it. For myself and for future generations. I mean, my ancestors crossed oceans to better their lives, the least I could do was drive a car to another state...and, unlike my ancestors, I have the benefit of the telephone and the internet. In fact, communication with some people has gotten better since my move. Mostly I think folks need to be encouraged to find something more than this dreary just exist each day. I'd argue that folks on this forum have figured that out, develop a passion, and in so doing add purpose and meaning to life. The fact that folks of all walks of life have come here to share in something they are passionate about encourages me. It's why I feel so welcome here. Now that I've rambled a bit, there are indeed some fantastic back door views here! Thanks all for sharing them.

And, SurfGent I have to mention, I love that burnt smell of the desert first thing in the morning, and also after a rainfall. It is one of the things that lured me out here in the first place. I visited my Uncle in southern California as a child and returned home begging my mother to leave New York City and take us out West. Some years later we were shopping for garden plants when I came to the desert plants I recognized the smell instantly, and told my mother that someday I would live where that was a smell I could experience each day. Well, that and I've always dreamed of riding horseback and working cattle, like my fathers uncles.

 

[SurfGent]

Like George Carlin once observed, "if you don't like the weather in your neighborhood...move." After helping my brother with a family history project I realized I owe it to my ancestors to pick up and make what changes in my life that I feel may better it. For myself and for future generations. I mean, my ancestors crossed oceans to better their lives, the least I could do was drive a car to another state...and, unlike my ancestors, I have the benefit of the telephone and the internet. In fact, communication with some people has gotten better since my move. Mostly I think folks need to be encouraged to find something more than this dreary just exist each day. I'd argue that folks on this forum have figured that out, develop a passion, and in so doing add purpose and meaning to life. The fact that folks of all walks of life have come here to share in something they are passionate about encourages me. It's why I feel so welcome here. Now that I've rambled a bit, there are indeed some fantastic back door views here! Thanks all for sharing them.

And, SurfGent I have to mention, I love that burnt smell of the desert first thing in the morning, and also after a rainfall. It is one of the things that lured me out here in the first place. I visited my Uncle in southern California as a child and returned home begging my mother to leave New York City and take us out West. Some years later we were shopping for garden plants when I came to the desert plants I recognized the smell instantly, and told my mother that someday I would live where that was a smell I could experience each day. Well, that and I've always dreamed of riding horseback and working cattle, like my fathers uncles.

Beautiful post !

 

[Fading Fast]

As noted in earlier posts, being an apartment, these are shots outside our back window. If I had a back door, I'd step out and drop eight stories straight down .

In this case, fortuitously owning to our building being on a 20-foot-wider-than-is-usual-for-NYC lot, you are looking at a shot of the crazy trees that are able to grow between our apartment building and the townhouses that back up to our lot (all the roof stuff you see in the background - air-conditioning units, skylights, fireplace flues are on the roofs* of the townhouses).

Thought you would enjoy seeing the trees change color for the Fall (just like trees that live in full-sized spaces).







*Roofs is the plural of roof in all varieties of English. Rooves is an old secondary form, and it still appears occasionally by analogy with other irregular plurals such as hooves, but it is not common enough to be considered standard. (from "The Grammarist")

⇧ This surprised me as I thought "rooves" was still common.

 

[GHT]

*Roofs is the plural of roof in all varieties of English. Rooves is an old secondary form, and it still appears occasionally by analogy with other irregular plurals such as hooves, but it is not common enough to be considered standard. (from "The Grammarist")
This surprised me as I thought "rooves" was still common.

Just my speculation, roofs has grown out of the term: "roofing," that companies, that specialise in that sphere of business, use. In all countries that speak English, 'V' always pluralises 'f' in the spoken and written word. But it seems that, like the plural, double 'i' that pluralises 'us' as in terminus/terminii, it's being consigned to history. Shame really, those idiosyncrasies are what make, and colour, a language.
Ha! my spell checker doesn't like terminii.

 

[Fading Fast]

Just my speculation, roofs has grown out of the term: "roofing," that companies, that specialise in that sphere of business, use. In all countries that speak English, 'V' always pluralises 'f' in the spoken and written word. But it seems that, like the plural, double 'i' that pluralises 'us' as in terminus/terminii, it's being consigned to history. Shame really, those idiosyncrasies are what make, and colour, a language.
Ha! my spell checker doesn't like terminii.

My spell checker is what alerted me to "rooves" no longer being acceptable (it was adamant that I really wanted to type "grooves -" spell checker can get quite cranky). I'm with you in that I like the old quirkiness but I've also long given up any fight and just go with whatever has won.

 

[GHT]

I'm with you in that I like the old quirkiness but I've also long given up any fight and just go with whatever has won.

Just before email took off, when most of the internet was in it's infancy, it still had the power to influence. My job, as a general manager, meant that I signed off many a letter.
The lady, I loathe to call her my secretary, but she did take care of me, always used something known as, open punctuation, meaning no punctuation. This was only on the envelope in which the letter would be sent. It grated me, still does, and I'm told that it came about from emails, not sure if that's so, but the lack of punctuation in emails and the general lapse in grammar, seems to bother no one, but it certainly rubs me up the wrong way.

 

[Fading Fast]

Just before email took off, when most of the internet was in it's infancy, it still had the power to influence. My job, as a general manager, meant that I signed off many a letter.
The lady, I loathe to call her my secretary, but she did take care of me, always used something known as, open punctuation, meaning no punctuation. This was only on the envelope in which the letter would be sent. It grated me, still does, and I'm told that it came about from emails, not sure if that's so, but the lack of punctuation in emails and the general lapse in grammar, seems to bother no one, but it certainly rubs me up the wrong way.

I've evolved my thinking over the years; hence, this sentence or this version: I've evolved my thinking over the years, hence, this sentence or the former, I guess, is okay as the semicolon is fading away, but punctuation exists to help the reader / make communication clearer and it still serves that purpose - at least when used intelligently.

I used to believe in hard grammar rules as that was how I was raised, but now I feel that the rules matter less because that is where our culture has moved. But I still believe whatever is most effective for communication should drive the decision. Hence, while a semicolon serves a purpose to alert the reader to the length of the pause and help him / her anticipate the "weight" of the clause to follow, a pause is still a pause, so probably no big deal if a comma is used where the old rules called for a semicolon.

I guess I've become more flexible, but again, only if the change doesn't meaningfully undermine the communication value. It will always irk me when people use reflexive and intensive pronouns all over the place versus their tightly delineated tradition roles, but so be it: I, myself, will continue to use them according to the old rules, but a misused reflexive pronoun doesn't really hurt understanding (no matter how much it sounds like nails on a chalkboard to me).

But that is the limit of my openness, punctuation and grammar still serve to help communication; thus, when sentences are constructed in a confusing manner and grammar that is used incorrectly or not at all leaves the reader adrift, then I'm fully with you. (And, as implied, my flexibility is rational, my emotion still craves the "correct" usage - sigh.)

 

[GHT]

To get back to the thread, that's a fabulous shot of the neighbouring rooves, dappled by natures Autumnal shades. The district of London that I lived in had much foliage, and the actual street where I lived was tree lined. Moaners complained of the carpet of fallen leaves, but I thought it was a bright contrast to the concrete.
The Hampshire River Avon, close to where I live now, at this time of year is sparse, but the plus side is that you can see ancient buildings in the distance, like Salisbury cathedral.

The river is tidal, it's only ten miles to the sea, and being tidal it's home to both brown trout & rainbow trout, but if you are very lucky, and very patient, you might, like this angler, land yourself a fine salmon.

 

[Fading Fast]

To get back to the thread, that's a fabulous shot of the neighbouring rooves, dappled by natures Autumnal shades.... View attachment 59753

What I love is the juxtaposition that you can't see from my window, but those townhouses are all over 100 years old and almost everyone is well preserved. When you look at them from the street, they look very fin de siecle, but then when you see the roofs [] from my apartment, you see all the modern technology that they've incorporated - some of it looks like "snap-on" technology as it is so clearly not of the period of the roof.

That's one big salmon.

 

[Fading Fast]

This is an out-my-front-window shot, but I thought the ivy changing color for the season was so pretty, it was worth sharing.

Part of our apartment house is in the shape of an "H" with our apartment located on the horizontal bar, so we see the walls of the vertical part of the "H" from our front window - which is what these shots show.

Despite the fact that we live in a small NYC apartment, looking out the window gives you the feel of living in an old castle.

 

[A-1]

Been living here for almost a year now and I live it! It's like Paradise!

 

[1mach1]

Been living here for almost a year now and I live it! It's like Paradise!

Wow!
Gorgeous shot.
What a view!

 

[Bushman]

Wow!
Gorgeous shot.
What a view!

I second that emotion.

I'll also add my own snowyard pictures:

 

[Oldsarge]