...fireplace exteriors as an art form

on a recent excursion through the neighborhood...
absorbing all the design delights of the many bungalows...
cottages & houses of the Craftsman era...
I began to take notice of the fireplace exteriors...

Craftsman era designs tended to feature the artisans' touch...
in the most basic parts of home design...
and as these few examples show...
they brought the fireplace box exterior to a new position...
as a part of the home that could express the builders' creativity...



stucco covered brick often sported "deco" design elements...
as seen here...



and here...



as well as in this example that needs some tlc...



Mission style elements tend towards straighter elements...
more like a free standing oven...
than a European squared off box...
some I've seen are more rounded than this one...



more simple might include painted brick...
with a bit of interest in set...
and sloped shoulders to carry water away from the wood...



but the simple cottage would have a plain brick box...
again, with the sloped shoulders to angle water away from the siding...



then there are ones like mine...

fancy bricks... & stacked shoulders on both sides of the chimney...
it is a pseudo-Tudor after all...and brick...
no siding to protect...

isn't it amazing what is just sitting there...
just waiting for us to notice & appreciate it...

...bungalows & cottages abound

my house is an expanded version of a "Pendleton" kit home...
sold by Sears only in 1930, though I've seen earlier dates for my house...
it follows the floor plan & exterior design of the Pendleton...
except for the nook, galley kitchen, utility porch corridor...
on the south end, which would be a fairly common sort of "add-on"...



if you take everything to the left of the tree away...
the exterior is almost identical to a one story version of the Pendleton...
the floor plan is not the same, due to the kitchen being in the add-on...
but the dining room/living room/fireplace orientation are there...

my neighborhood is full of these kinds of "kit homes"...
quite different from the "cookie cutter" tract homes of the last 50 years...

come along with me for a walk around the 2 blocks to either side...
of where I live and you see a plethora of design styles...
and more than one "re-muddle" mistake...
along with some accurate restorations...



there are a number of "Mission"[Spanish] style homes...
the "accurate ones" will have be stucco...
have some wrought iron trim & clay tile roofs...



the ones that have been "re-muddled"...
had all the trim & design elements removed...
just look "wrong"....



a bungalow with Mission style elements...
often has odd shaped windows and fireplaces...
as well as the wrought iron trim & tile vents & roof...



this is an example of a Mission style stucco fireplace...



this Mission bungalow has the round tile vents...
as well as the odd shaped window...
the paint job may be an attempt at either a Tuscan color scheme... [?]
and who knows where the matching ladders came from...
[they are intentional, they've been there for a long time...]



I'm not sure why these folks put a tile roof...
on such an obviously English style brick house...
but they did... destroying what little style it had...



this house is owned by a contractor...
it's behind me & I hear the construction noises all the time...
this gate is very Craftsman & fits the cottage style...



but unable to control himself...
he went too far with the fence & gate...



not too mention the UGLY pergola he put in the front...
west facing windows would have had a simple canvas awning...
similar to the one they have in the previous picture...
or at the most, something a lot less massively invasive as this...

this one gets one of my "thumbs down" awards...



this is a simple cottage with a pergola done well...
it seems to fit and is part of the flow of the structure...



this is not a kit, but a 50's style "ranch"...
complete with ugly palm trees...
[have I mentioned that I detest palm trees ?]



the elaborate porch covering structure...
meant to house some sort of vine...
is very Craftsman...



and a covered porch area is not uncommon either...



here's one covered with climbing roses...



this neatly kept brick bungalow has aluminum awnings...
but in the correct period shape & color...
so it looks like part of the whole...



this bungalow has "eyebrow" windows...



this one has the same shape in the porch roof...



this is only one example of the "fairy tale" style of cottage...
there are numerous ones in the surrounding blocks...



this 2 story has a bit of the fantasy style...



this Craftsman has a vine covered pergola...



this one used to...



and this covered porch has the decorative pillars so common to the period...

most of the houses in my area were built...
anywhere from the 1920's...
through the 1930's & 40's...
into the 50's...

though there are a couple of exceptions...



the oldest house, by far, in this immediate neighborhood...
is UnklePhil's...

I once met an old man who stopped to look at it...
he said that he'd been born & grew-up there...
in the late 1800's...

of course Mudville was established in 1850...
and this area was one of the first "suburban tracts"developed...
though only 2 miles from downtown...
it was once the end of the trolly line...
the "car turn around" being only blocks from my house...

now to reach the city limits to the north...
I'd have to drive about 10 miles...
through tract homes that all look alike...

I think I prefer all the quaintness of the past...
it's more interesting and more pleasing to the eye...

next... a "fireplaces as art" post...

...learning to listen

"The Whisper"

The man whispered,
"God, speak to me";
and a meadowlark sang,
but the man did not hear.

So the man yelled,
"God, speak to me !"
and the thunder rolled across the sky,
but the man did not listen.

The man looked around and said,
"God, let me see you";
and a star shined brightly,
but the man did not see.

And the man shouted,
"God, show me a miracle";
and a life was born,
but the man did not notice.

So the man cried out in despair,
"Touch me, God and let me know that you are there";
whereupon, God reached down & touched the man,
but the man brushed the butterfly away,
and walked on.

[author unknown]

[Vielen Dank to Lil'Sis for leaving me this poem in a comment...]

my current directions from God...
all seem to be pointing towards the conquering of "self"...

this not new, but seems to have gained a particular intensity...
over the past several months...
and is now in nearly every message I get...

I have never wanted to be oblivious to my effect on people...

but a combination of social awkwardness & trying too hard...
combined with a natural snarky-ness, tunnel vision & stubbornness...
have only served to exacerbate my narcissistic tendencies...
leaving me right where I never wanted to be...

the conductor of a professional choral group I sang with...
always told us, about the act of performing music...
"Don't enjoy it while you're doing it...
keep your concentration on what you are doing...
when it's over, you can relive it in your mind...
and then, you can indulge yourself in the enjoyment of it...
If you try to enjoy it during the performance, you'll make mistakes...
and then, no one will enjoy it..."

that advice has always worked for me with music...

I'm beginning to think that it may also apply to certain aspects of life too...

it's a lot like the point of the poem Lil'Sis shared...

I get so caught up in my situation & feelings...
that I can't see, hear, know or feel the answers that are there...

I want everything on my terms...
and when I get it, I don't "get it"...
because I'm not looking or listening for the answer...
just wanting... being focused on how I feel...
and I lose touch with the whole point of the situation...

this conundrum confuses no one, more than me...

but I'm at a point in my life where I'm tired of myself...

the misunderstandings, the self-centeredness...
and all the resulting ennui and estrangements...

I know that my best path is His...
so I have to learn how to hear & see...
and then, how to obey if I want to be led by Him...

and if I learn how to hear Him properly...
perhaps I'll also be able to hear those He sends too...



it strikes me as more than just a little ironic...
[God does have a sense of humor, doesn't He ?]
that all this is happening now, in the "autumn" of my life...
[at least, I hope it's just the autumn and not the winter quite yet...]

all the foliage that has had to have some cold nights...
in order to turn it's brightest & most intense colors...
reminds me that autumn is the culmination of the year's growth...
the harvest home, the bounty stored for the cold winter ahead...

all my failures have made me very sure...
that I want to hear, listen, see, notice & feel God speaking to me...

I don't want to miss His wisdom, instructions or grace...

so I have to avoid getting caught up in "self"...
what I want... feeling good... ignoring others...

He has sent "butterflies"..."thunderbolts"... "shining stars"...
"meadowlarks"... and the miracle of a "new life"...

sometimes in the persons of kind hearts who dared be sent as "meadowlarks"...
"shining stars", "butterflies" & even "thunderbolts"...
sometimes I "heard"... sometimes [too often] I didn't...
[hindsight is great... understanding it when it happens, better...]

very recently, God has had 3 main themes He's been addressing with me...

the first & foremost... He will provide ALL my needs...
I must not fear or panic, there is "plenty"...
let each day take care of itself...

secondly... I must forget the failures of the past...
there are lessons that I must take from them...
but I can't dwell on them or I can't move on...
so I must "forgive & forget"...
which is hard for me, considering some of the damage I've done...

thirdly... I must bring "self" under control...
not just the uncontrolled spending of money to please my wants...
[which has pretty much run it's course 'cause I'm broke...]
or the use of food & "stuff" to deal with emotional issues...
but the taming of my temper & my tendencies to be morose...

finding a way to always be calm, peaceful & serene...
amidst the chaos and strife I'm often surrounded by...
finding the discipline to exercise so that I don't become crippled with arthritis...
while paying more attention to my health and diet...
keeping my house, animals & other possessions in good shape...

I've turned over "new leaves" before...

been "forgiven" before...

and pretty much messed things up again...

*sigh*

so realizing that "talk is cheap"...
"actions speak louder than words"...
and that I have no right to ask anyone, "to give me another chance"...

I can only say that I am a work in progress...

that I hope to die to self...

that I trust God to finish what He started in me...
despite my interference & self-centeredness...

and that I look forward to that day...
when all the love, trust, effort & pain...
that some of you "butterflies", "meadowlarks", "shining stars"...
and yes, especially you "thunderbolts"...
have invested in me, will have its harvest...

that God will have successfully used all of you...
to help make me the person He wants me to be...

for that, I'm profoundly grateful...
and will do my best to be, "a quick study"...



God is good, all the time...

...have a blessed Christmas

wishing a truly blessed Christmas to all of you...

..."the road not taken"

two roads diverged in a yellow wood...
and sorry I could not travel both
and be one traveler...long I stood...
and looked down one, as far as I could...
to where it bent in the undergrowth...



then took the other, as just as fair...
and having perhaps the better claim...
because it was grassy and wanted wear...
though, as for that, the passing there
had worn them both about the same...



and both that morning equally lay
in leaves no step had trodden black...
oh, I kept the first for another day !
yet... knowing how way leads on to way...
I doubted if I should ever come back...



I shall be telling this, with a sigh...
somewhere ages and ages hence...
two roads diverged in a yellow wood...and I...
I took the one less traveled by...
and that has made all the difference.



["The Road Not Taken" Robert Frost, 1920]

...Macavity, the mystery cat [ with apologies to T.S.Eliot]

Macavity's a Mystery Cat : he's called the Hidden Paw...



For he's the master criminal who can defy the law...



He's the bafflement of Scotland Yard, the Flying Squad's despair:
For when they reach the scene of crime... Macavity's not there !



Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
He's broken every human law, he breaks the law of gravity.
His powers of levitation would make a fakir stare,
And when you reach the scene of crime... Macavity's not there !



You may seek him in the basement, you may look up in the air...
But I tell you once and once again... Macavity's not there !



Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
For he's a fiend in feline shape, a monster of depravity,



You may meet him in a by-street, you may see him in the square...
But when a crime's discovered, then Macavity's not there !



He's outwardly respectable.[They say he cheats at cards...]
And his footprints are not found in any file of Scotland Yard's.



And when the larder's looted, or the jewel-case is rifled,
Or when the milk is missing or another Peke's been stifled,
Or the greenhouse glass is broken and the trellis past repair...
Ay, there's the wonder of the thing ! Macavity's not there !



And when the Foreign Office finds a Treaty's gone astray,
Or the Admiralty lose some plans and drawings, by the way,
There may be a scrap of paper in the hall or on the stair...
But it's useless to investigate...Macavity's not there !



And when the loss has been discovered, the Secret Service say:
"It must have been Macavity !"...but he's a mile away.
You'll be sure to find him resting, or a-licking of his thumbs,
Or engaged in doing complicated long division sums.



Macavity, Macavity, there's no one like Macavity,
There never was a Cat of such deceitfulness and suavity.



He always has an alibi, or one or two to spare:
And whatever time the deed took place...MACAVITY WASN'T THERE !



And they say that all the cats whose wicked deeds are widely known...
[I might mention Mungojerrie, I might mention Cuttlebone...]
Are nothing more than agents for the Cat who all the time...
Just controls their operations: the Napoleon of Crime !