The View From My Window

Getting Ready to Say Goodbye to London
I know I am suppose to brush after every meal but in reality I brush twice a day – after breakfast and before bed. I have one of those fancy Braun electric toothbrushes. 2 minutes for the whole process, not including flossing. While I brush I look out the window of my bathroom attached to our bedroom in the loft.

A loft is what Americans would call the 3rd floor – or attic. When we bought our ca. 1911 house in London the loft was a scary place accessible only through a square hole in the ceiling from the floor below by way of a ladder. It was where the previous owners who had lived here for 50 years, Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, kept their old luggage, sledges (a remnant from when snow was more predictable in London), and ancient sports equipment. It was also where the open water tank was that was a catalyst for a series of bizarre dreams of open sewers and drowning rats – but that is another story.

When we bought our house in November of 2006 we ripped off the roof and built out the attic with dormers. A matching staircase was built from the first floor (US 2nd) to the loft complete with heart shaped cut outs on the banister. Now, the loft is where the master bedroom and en suite (US ‘adjoining’) bathroom are. The views are tremendous. It is our own private tree house looking out over the Memorial Gardens of the Hoop Lane Crematorium. .

I start brushing my teeth in the bathroom looking out the small window by the sink but my view is obstructed on the left by the gables that go over the storage room. I then walk into the bedroom with toothbrush still in mouth and look out. Directly behind our garden fence are three giant poplar trees. They remind me of France and the long driveways that lead up to the chateaus in the Loire Valley that are flanked on either side by rows of poplars. Last spring all the neighbors abutting the Memorial Gardens were sent notices from the Barnet Council saying there was a petition to cut down the poplars along with a number of other trees proposed by the Garden. A neighbor started a letter writing campaign and the tree cutters were denied. A victory for the trees! The Lorax would be proud.

The previous owner’s son told me that both of his parents were cremated there and they planted some flowering azaleas near the house in the memorial garden. I have tried to find them, but so far never have.

The first fall we lived in London, 2003, while Evan was at work and Josh was at school Simon and I would explore the area in his Maclaren buggy. One of the first places we found was the Memorial Gardens. At a year and a half he would toddle all over the gardens looking at the pretty flowers and smelling anything with color to see if it smelled nice.

From the window you can watch the appearance and disappearance of nearby buildings depending on the foliage. One of the buildings is St Jude’s on the Hill, an Anglican Church in the heart of the Hampstead Garden Suburb http://www.stjudes.org.uk/. Another one of the small buildings is the Children’s Gazebo. This is where parents, families, friends, relatives go to place flowers, stuffed animals and notes to children who have died. This view I will not be sorry to say goodbye to once we move, however it helps me keep things in check and reminds me to hug my boys a little harder and to keep my life in perspective and to appreciate the moments we are together because life is so fleeting.

I also look directly down on our own garden and see: the shed we all painted one Sunday in the spring when my brother and sister-in-law and niece use to live across town; the swing set where Josh and Simon and loads of their friends have spent hours swinging, playing and talking; the beds of flowers and trees I have planted these last couple of years; and the bamboo that is growing nicely in front of the playhouse. When we were designing the garden Simon really wanted to plant bamboo to attract pandas. The bamboo also acts as a hiding place so you can’t see the playhouse too well.

From my window I see our neighbor Julie’s apple tree (Bramley’s) and it is magnificent. She shares the bounty so I can make pies and she makes her apple jelly. She has a tire swing attached to a lower branch that is so inviting. At 87 she is rarely on the swing – but it is a fine invitation to her younger friends that she often entertains. In preparation for our moving I asked her if she would be interested in anything from our garden. We decided she should have the teak bench that was Mrs. Harvey’s since the two of them had a 50 year relationship and their sons had grown up together. Julie use to see Mrs. Harvey giving her lessons to her students sitting on the bench in the garden.

Over the next year the view as I brush my teeth will be changing – sometimes from morning until night. I won’t have memories associated with these particular views but I wonder what memories they will trigger during those 2 minutes twice a day. Maybe I will start brushing after lunch as well.