et cetera

Three-legged dogs, red-headed women, vin ordinare, things made by hand: these are a few of my favorite things. A beloved Co-oper said, re the plethora of holidays this month, “have fun whatever it is you do.” Good advice. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Festivus, Saturnalia, Three Kings, solstice...the winter festive season.

The four pin oaks on the eastern side of the block have deposited great rafts of leaves on my side of the street, which is street-tree-free. The wind has almost completely cleared the area under the trees, and wafted the kerjillons of leaves across the street. Eddies and whirlwinds. It’s like seaweed on a winter beach. This is a strange block. The POLHEMVS CLINIC, where Dr. Polhemvs used to do his notorious experiments, takes up the northwest corner, and two of the six row houses that make up the rest of the block are empty. One was recently gutted, so there’s some activity there. The other one, which is next to me, has been empty for years. Perhaps it's stuck in the court of chancery? POLHEMVS seems to extend under the sidewalk, which is why there are no trees on that end of the block. Or so a Verizon employee surmised in tree pruning class.