Monday, September 22, 2014
Monday was a Monday.... typically one of my favorite days of the week....(I am serious!)  But this one, this day, was... difficult. Personally. 

And the only reason I even bring up my personal life is "hope".  And "faith". And a dream.  At the end of the day, as I finished working briefly on the building, I looked through the alley windows as I had practically every night. 

That is when I saw it.  I saw what it should be.  I guess I saw it a long time ago, but did not wish to believe it or thought it wiser to debate internally and endlessly for some reason...

Nope.  I got it.  Do I want it?  Do I think it is right?  Yep and yep.  Is it possible? Yes. Will it be easy? Ppft.  Nope.  But, it could be the best...  I think it could be dreamy and lovely and enjoyable and "share-worthy"!!!

Sorry. I digress. Slightly... I just want to extend out there in the world that hope and faith are possible in the midst of ..... well, the building and I.... we are sort of 'kin', if you know what I mean. 

We are in this..... together.

My view through the alley windows, through the expanse of the main level.... to the Main Street side.  This is when I saw it...what the building, at least the main floor, should be.... ok, I will say it "What the building wants to be.."

 

Since I am all about the windows of late, here are a few more photos of "window - wood".

Why is this beautiful? I don't know. It just is.

The paper backing to the address numbers over the Main Street doors..left on the window sills inside...

Scraping and sanding inside... Handsome, yes?

Cleaning the first window outside tonight... again, noticed.... So, I include a photo of it here... I hope LW and SC, whoever they are, are living in love! (Plus, I have to sand it off... wanted to preserve..)

 





Monday....I have to admit, turns out, is really still one of my favorite days of the week...

Thank you.  Hope and Faith.  And Love.
Blessings!
~stephanie

Sunday, September 22, 2014
Hello!
Post rain:  I open windows, then check how much water has seeped in.  I always pray when I get to the second floor... my concern:  ROOF!

 

Every rain I check on this section of the trusses and rafters under the northwest part of the roof.  The weight of the water, plus the waterlogged wood, is causing bowing or sagging.  Oddly enough I think part of the support is now the metal piping which was added for wiring, but never connected.  In months past I looked at the pipes, shaking my head, wondering 'why'.  Now I am grateful for them.  Hopefully just a month away from repair and new roof! 

 

The rafters... Please, please just last one more month....

 

 

 

Water...I watch the water... fascinating.  Seriously.  On the main level, as it spreads, the edges swallow concrete dust.

 

 

On the main level... In the morning after the night rain..

 

 

 

 



 

More lessons from the building.... The last week or so I have been worried about windows.  I figure that it is the one thing I can do to satisfy my Phase I agreement with the city.  It is totally acceptable and understandable... the building can no longer look like it is abandoned.  For many practical reasons, but in my mind, the building cannot look uncared for, because..... well, it is mine!  I  have no beef about the Phasing.  In fact it was my idea.  The only way to save the building in any reasonable financial manner was the phasing proposal.  In no way could a person finish it all within a year.

 

My phases for outside alone are three and one-half years.  For everything:  Six years.  (Secretly I am striving for five years..)

Back to the important stuff:  my latest lesson.  All this time looking at the building.  Dreaming.  Visioning.  Planning.  AND I have been all about windows of late, I never noticed.... Look.  Look at these photos... See if you see what I first saw today. (I felt like such a bonehead.  How could I not see it?)

 

Taken from the outside.

Again, outside.

Outside. Nope, sorry. Inside.  I just think it is cool...

Outside.  Here is the photo.  See it? Look at those holes.

 



Give up?  Now, understand, this window is right where I park. I have looked at it every day (practically) for the past eight months... Never noticed one important fact....

 

 

The holes.  BB gun - hopefully not a shotgun!  But that is not the key.  I was amazed today.  The holes.  The gun was shot from the inside, not the outside. Can you imagine?

 

 

That was my big news of the day.  Tonight I tried treating the windows, getting the concrete dust and whatever else might be stuck to them.  I felt fairly successful until driving away, I noticed in the street lights, .... um, let's just say "not good".

It is peculiar to be at a new stage.  I had the scraping windows mini-phase in my head.  Now I need to start replacing panes, recaulk, and  prepare for painting.

 

I have to close with a photo of just... well, it is part of the cuteness of the building... He is not just an armory after all!



 



I am unsure what piece of machinery it comes from, but lying on the concrete windowsill, this cutie....

*sigh* And those are my tales for today.  Not mine actually.  The building's.

 

Thank you....And, Blessings.  Lots of love too. And dreams of happiness.  And buildings. And bricks...(and clean windows...ugh.)

~stephanie

 



Saturday, September 20, 2014.
Hi!
I would call it the perfect Saturday! I know I have called the building the "perfect Sunday building" and I think some-other-day-of-the-week type of building, never really having experienced a Saturday morning and afternoon there.  Not that it is all that important, I know.  It is not unique - every place has their own character and vibe, depending upon the day of the week.  And there are some vibes that seem to permeate the calendar altogether.
I think the building is one of those 'permeators'. 
I finished the first round of scraping the wood-framed windows.  The same panic occurred as I stepped back to look at the now exposed sills and faces.  I have made it look so rough.  On one hand I am happy to be this far.  On the other hand my heart drops a bit, seeing it so disheveled. 

My poor, dear building!  Looking rough.  Decisions:  Repair windows?  Just get them "weather tight" and nice looking?  Some combination of both goals? I am under deadline to weather seal by January 1. I am not sure at what point I will return them (the wood framed windows on Main and Genesee Streets' side) to the original look of big panes on the bottom and small squares decorating the top (of the main level windows).  Windows generally are, in themselves, at least to me, a primer in the lesson "How DO you eat an elephant? ...one...."

While scraping early morning, a buddy crawled around, weaving inside as I scraped outside.  I started snapping photos  ~ he seemed to turn to give me his 'best side'!  I remember how happy I was, when I discovered bugs and toads around the building...they were like my parakeets!  (While I enjoy all of nature and wildlife, I must admit I was very glad all summer that the occasional bat was just that....occasional!)

My true goal of the day was getting there early to finish scraping / first round.  Then, I thought I should see if I could start ordering replacement panes of glass.  Success at ordering;  surprise at the completion of the first four panes less than two hours later!!  While driving around town, of course I had to stop at the farmers market...I succumbed to the call of fall decorating items...  I know, I know. Pumpkins.  Corn stalks.  The building just needed some 'holidaying up!'

OK, I have to say it....Look at those gorgeous, handsome bricks!!! (Personally, I think I need practice on my display techniques, but....I have ideas for more!!!!!)

*(Side note:  While writing here, I take a few minutes to watch 'Open House NYC' on one of the digital/cable/satellite channels...Inspiration!! Lots of brick!  Plus, am I the only one who is intrigued with 'curtain wall'?)

Visitors today! (I need to have ready a guest book - seriously!)  A friend and his sister!  She could feel the vibe of the building, see possibilities.... yep. yep.)  People stop to offer advice and help.  How grand!!  It is a ....happy building.

(I really need to take notes during the day! There is so much to share!)

At the end of my workday, I sat, eating popcorn in the doorway, when I noticed a few details - which lead to my own wondering... More questions.  

How difficult will it be to restore those steel framed windows? And, how perfect are lines, the edges, where things meet? I like that.  There is something so beautiful about wood meeting concrete edged by steel guarded by brick.  Even when the wood is grayed, the wood is weathered imperfectly,, the concrete shows hairline cosmetic cracks, the metal has surface corrosion and the cement was painted...

I look at it in wonder.  I pray I work with results which honor the building.  Strange isn't it?  I was just goofing around, eating popcorn and drinking tea, sitting in the doorway in the sun....

It has to be one of my favorite photos...

Other visitors:  Pigeons (I should curse them, but they make me happy!)  And, one lone eagle who seemed to drift in from the river, over the parking lot across from the building, then glide back....

Did I mention that one lady stopped to tell me she thinks that perhaps parachutes were made here during World War II?  She was not sure.  I need a return visit to the historical society!

That, my friends, was my day at the building.  Full of traffic and people sounds and busy-ness and sunshine.

Randomness.  But, beauty... 

I thought there was a story....in the glass, the rope.  But sometimes - at least that is what I am finding - I should just look, soak it in, be delighted and light of heart.  I just like looking at the picture!!! Enjoy!

Hodge-podge writing!  But not hodge-podge working.  (well, maybe a little!)

Happiness.

Thank you!  And, Blessings..

~stephanie

  

Friday, September 19, 2014.
Hello.  I am switching up my schedule just a bit...No scraping tonight, but opening and shutting windows for ventilation and air circulation during the day. I always check on it at night though. Always.
Even when I did not own it officially.  I would check every night, looking through the windows and dreaming.  And praying.  I did a great deal of praying about this path.  I wondered a lot about why on earth I would try to beautify the building.  (I never wondered why I would save it, why I would renovate, why I would preserve it...  I never thought of the building that way.  It did not need me.  It stood all these years very fine without me, thank you very much.  True, it was slated to be razed, but maybe that was its destiny.)
That is when I learned of love from the building.  I loved it. I could not bear the thought of looking at its spot on Main and Genessee, and not seeing it.  That's just me.  It is a very personal undertaking - right or wrong and not meant as anything except that.  Love.
I could really beat this point to death, but I think plain and simple is best.  I love it.  I loved it then.  And tonight, I did the same things I did months ago.... I looked through the windows.  I parked in the neighboring lot to just look at it from a distance...just so I could visualize.  What does a person see?  What did I always see?
Tonight it occurred to me that I pray to remember:  Once in awhile it helps me to look from a distance, to wish for......
Something I already have. I remembered those months of wishing and planning and wondering.  Of tears and plans and meetings and boldly (gasp!) doing things I would never have dreamed possible.  At least in my life.

There are many lessons....This one is just the tip of the iceberg!  Tonight though - I thought of this one.  It was my first lesson from the building as I snapped endless amounts of photos, looked at it, walked around it, and pressed my nose against the windows.  
Every day.
Sometimes those lessons are black and white;  sometimes they are grey.  I am unsure as which this one really is, but like many lessons, its existence is independent of my understanding of it.  Someday I will, but maybe not today.  Maybe not ever.  All I know is that I love the building....it taught me how to start following my heart...Black and white.  Or grey...

Blast it all!! Isn't it the most handsome thing ever?  Sorry.  Correction.  Isn't he the most handsome?

Good night!  Thank you!  May you wish pleasant wishes... And, Blessings.
~stephanie

Thursday, September 18, 2014
Hi.
Making sense... Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of life.  What does it all mean?  And then there are days like today... when a person gets one of those funny feelings.... that somehow it is all making sense.  Even though a person could write endless notes and reminders and post-its and all sorts of and versions of 'electric shocks' as prompts for the time when, such as now, I would like to communicate it all... ugh!  And all those little details make no sense whatsoever either on their own little scrap of paper or in a pile.  Somehow looking at them all makes a person smile.  Then laugh. Then cry.  Yep.  It's life.  Pretty doggone fantastic.
I still have no clue why.
I might have one idea.  I scraped awhile.  Inside at night, I looked around that beautiful building and I felt a bit ashamed.  As I looked at how the light shines through those windows late at night and how proudly the concrete pillars stand, I smiled.  "This is good." I giggled.  "This could be... what if it all turns out better than good? I have a funny feeling...."
I had forgotten that feeling. I had let my mind reside in the valley of 'chances are slim' and all the other half-way versions of positive mindset which disguises as 'reality' but are sold to a person as 'do not want you to be disappointed'. Blah.
No. No. No.
I really like working the dream.  I mean, if I am scraping and I so love to scrape and dream about the details.... Why not go full-out positive?  Why not suck in that gorgeous warm street light romantic.... oops. Carried away = me.
But why not?
After all, this is going to turn out better than good....
And you know what?
I would never ever end a daily blog by being one step up from a blog-o-matic...
No.
I would end it thusly:
Happiness to all.  Dreams. Love and Blessings.
But mostly?
I thank God.

Beauty, on the inside...

Trusses. I love trusses. I know nothing of trusses...

 

Building came with a lawn mower.... being repaired at the shop down the street..

~stephanie

September 17, 2014.
Hi!
I have written this post in my head at least ten times today....details and observations... Now I find it difficult to write. 
Writing.. How do I write of the satisfaction of scraping?
How do I write about my 'coming to terms' with my terms?

I do not know, but tonight I do not need to solve that problem or answer that question..
Maybe it is all because I 'manage'.  
Maybe it is because I learned a bit about standing.....

From a brick building, my brick building....

Thank you!  ...And Blessings!
~stephanie

who?

wasn't kidding about the toads...they are always a good sign....Health!

Tuesday, September 16.
Hi!  Honestly I had to think twice what day it really was. Is. You know what I mean... More scraping and its wonderful.  The door handle?  Works!  But it is not pretty, my repair job which is really a certain type of glue.  Word of advice:  When a glue bottle says "Expands as it dries," trust it. It really did.  I ponder the chemistry behind all of it, but conclude nothing.  Typical.  And fun.
Good news and not to embellish or faun over the city, but I have been informed the street department will pick up my bags of weeds!  A very welcome and unexpected outcome!  I take these triumphs with much pleasure as this journey is a long one.  My progress, as you may get a sense of it already, is two steps forward, then sometimes one-two-or-three backward.
Yep, not worrying about garbage bags of weeds plus avoiding a 'clearing the lot' ticket is like a double success!

Once again I have no new photos to share - my apologies, but I do have some pretty cool ones from the past few months.  As I look through them I notice that the windows' appearance from those photos to my scraping actually looks worse.  I know, I know.  The paint on these frames has to be scraped off as well as the old putty and paint on the panes themselves.  But it is a bit disheartening to look at the efforts of ones work and it looks rougher not better.  The only positive is that once in awhile, when I sand the wood....the smoothness and the grain and the clean lines....well, it just makes me smile.  Feels real. Oh! Plus, it could be my imagination, but I swear that from the inside looking out through those windows, they seem to sparkle a bit.  Impossible as I stopped treating them due to the moisture... Still, I swear they look....HAPPY!!!

(A good imagination I believe is critical to keep 'eating this elephant...bit by bit, bite by bite').

From July 24, 2014.  Looking at the Main Street entrance. I have about four different visions for the main entry and this area, including the wall to the right / east.

I think...that may be enough for today... (sigh...and, with a smile...)

I wish you many Blessings.. And, thank you.

~stephanie