Cocooning, Part 6 (5c still to come)
I'm sitting in my 12-year old niece's bedroom in Leesburg, Virginia. My sister (the other one -- not the one with the boys) has been living in this house for a year and a half (or maybe more) and I've never been in it before.
I did see it once from the outside before she moved in. But, you know, they're doing work on it and there's no real guest room. Plus my Oak Hill sister is so accommodating that I always end up being based and receiving visitors (well, Leesburg sister, anyway) at her place.
Oh, yeah. And my brother-in-law and I always end up arguing about politics and everything else, which Leesburg sister may be trying to avoid by not boarding me here. We argued again last night but were careful, so it ended up being fun rather than duressful. (Apparently, according to "Philip", American Muslims are decapitating people throughout the US and not a single Islamic authority has ever spoken against the violence of extremists.)
I guess you've figured out, from the fact that I was here last night, that I spent the night here rather than the other place. That's how it always is with Sister Leesburg. She picks me up so we can spend part of the day together and then doesn't feel like taking me back in the evening so I end up staying at her place. (Yes, this is the first time here, but this modus operandi well precedes her current living arrangements.)
We just spent a goodly period of time looking at an owl perched on some wooden playground equipment outside the house. First appearance of said owl, as far as anyone knows. Didn't seem to be uncomfortable in the daytime; stood proudly sunning himself, feathers blowing in the wind.
Sister Leesburg lives in a more rural part of Virginia than Sister Oak Hill, even though they're just half an hour away from each other. From what I understand, almost all of the area was rural about 20 years ago bur creeping suburbia has since overtaken much of it and Sister Oak Hill's area could be pretty much anywhere in the United States -- sometimes when I've visited my parents in New Jersey, I think I'm down here, so similar are the far-flung outposts of strip-malled America.
Sis Lee actually prefers more suburban environs but she and "Philip" (hee-hee) bought this house and its adjacent land in order to build and sell several homes on it, in effect continuing the process and helping the metastasis of the suburbia they love. Unfortunately (for them), the wealthy landowners elsewhere in the county are trying to get the are protected from development. If you could see the rolling green beauty of this area (they even have fox hunts around here) you would see why it needs to be protected. (We'll protect the foxes from development before we get around to protecting them from rich hunters.) I guess, in my perfect world, my sister would sell her land and make her money (they're no longer thinking of building, just subdividing) and then the development would stop. Bit my heart is with the anti-developers.
We were looking at houses yesterday in anticipation of my sister's eventual move from her rustic heck. (It's not quite hell, just a little isolated for her.). The developments, overall, have a cookie-cutter look, but some of the individual houses offered are pretty nice and have a less plastic look to them.
Man, it's astonishing how large and opulent some of these places are. I can see how some might find such conspicuous consumption obscene but I gotta say the massive, spacious, luxuriously appointed model homes were seductive -- why wouldn't a person want all these creature comforts? (I would prefer them in a brownstone in the city but good livin' itself does not look like my enemy. A stranger, yes, but adversary -- no.)
We all like one home with a stone(face) exterior that, sadly, was more desirable than the interior. It really annoyed my sister that she can't find a pre-designed suburban house that is everything she desires, both inside and out. So, talk shifted to the somewhat unlikely possibility that they would build a house on part of their existing land rather than buy one "off the shelf". I found this exciting because they were talking (I inspired it) about how including solar panels on the roof and stuff like that would create efficiencies that would make this option more cost-effective in the long run than a "developed" alternative.
I just heard "Philip" (hee-hee) tell my sister we'll be leaving in a few minutes, so I gotta wrap this up. Sorry, if there are spelling mistakes or it doesn't flow properly -- no time to look it over.
We're going to have breakfast at some good breakfast place in Falls Church (much closer to DC). Maybe later I'll tell you about how I kept everyone laughing last night with material from and base on an idea I had for an Edinburgh show based on the many American things that are more beloved in Britain than here -- even perceived, somehow, as British. (A lot it it was about chocolate. Really.)
Think to you again soon.
Love as always --
Andrew
I did see it once from the outside before she moved in. But, you know, they're doing work on it and there's no real guest room. Plus my Oak Hill sister is so accommodating that I always end up being based and receiving visitors (well, Leesburg sister, anyway) at her place.
Oh, yeah. And my brother-in-law and I always end up arguing about politics and everything else, which Leesburg sister may be trying to avoid by not boarding me here. We argued again last night but were careful, so it ended up being fun rather than duressful. (Apparently, according to "Philip", American Muslims are decapitating people throughout the US and not a single Islamic authority has ever spoken against the violence of extremists.)
I guess you've figured out, from the fact that I was here last night, that I spent the night here rather than the other place. That's how it always is with Sister Leesburg. She picks me up so we can spend part of the day together and then doesn't feel like taking me back in the evening so I end up staying at her place. (Yes, this is the first time here, but this modus operandi well precedes her current living arrangements.)
We just spent a goodly period of time looking at an owl perched on some wooden playground equipment outside the house. First appearance of said owl, as far as anyone knows. Didn't seem to be uncomfortable in the daytime; stood proudly sunning himself, feathers blowing in the wind.
Sister Leesburg lives in a more rural part of Virginia than Sister Oak Hill, even though they're just half an hour away from each other. From what I understand, almost all of the area was rural about 20 years ago bur creeping suburbia has since overtaken much of it and Sister Oak Hill's area could be pretty much anywhere in the United States -- sometimes when I've visited my parents in New Jersey, I think I'm down here, so similar are the far-flung outposts of strip-malled America.
Sis Lee actually prefers more suburban environs but she and "Philip" (hee-hee) bought this house and its adjacent land in order to build and sell several homes on it, in effect continuing the process and helping the metastasis of the suburbia they love. Unfortunately (for them), the wealthy landowners elsewhere in the county are trying to get the are protected from development. If you could see the rolling green beauty of this area (they even have fox hunts around here) you would see why it needs to be protected. (We'll protect the foxes from development before we get around to protecting them from rich hunters.) I guess, in my perfect world, my sister would sell her land and make her money (they're no longer thinking of building, just subdividing) and then the development would stop. Bit my heart is with the anti-developers.
We were looking at houses yesterday in anticipation of my sister's eventual move from her rustic heck. (It's not quite hell, just a little isolated for her.). The developments, overall, have a cookie-cutter look, but some of the individual houses offered are pretty nice and have a less plastic look to them.
Man, it's astonishing how large and opulent some of these places are. I can see how some might find such conspicuous consumption obscene but I gotta say the massive, spacious, luxuriously appointed model homes were seductive -- why wouldn't a person want all these creature comforts? (I would prefer them in a brownstone in the city but good livin' itself does not look like my enemy. A stranger, yes, but adversary -- no.)
We all like one home with a stone(face) exterior that, sadly, was more desirable than the interior. It really annoyed my sister that she can't find a pre-designed suburban house that is everything she desires, both inside and out. So, talk shifted to the somewhat unlikely possibility that they would build a house on part of their existing land rather than buy one "off the shelf". I found this exciting because they were talking (I inspired it) about how including solar panels on the roof and stuff like that would create efficiencies that would make this option more cost-effective in the long run than a "developed" alternative.
I just heard "Philip" (hee-hee) tell my sister we'll be leaving in a few minutes, so I gotta wrap this up. Sorry, if there are spelling mistakes or it doesn't flow properly -- no time to look it over.
We're going to have breakfast at some good breakfast place in Falls Church (much closer to DC). Maybe later I'll tell you about how I kept everyone laughing last night with material from and base on an idea I had for an Edinburgh show based on the many American things that are more beloved in Britain than here -- even perceived, somehow, as British. (A lot it it was about chocolate. Really.)
Think to you again soon.
Love as always --
Andrew
posted by Andrew J. Lederer at 9:51 AM
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