West Side Views

When we were looking for a new condo to move to, one of the main criteria was that it needed to have a west view. My favorite part of the day is late afternoon in to the evening. Our tiny condo on Capitol Hill had a south exposure, so we benefited from east and west sun. But because we lived on the first floor of a five story building, we didn’t see much of the evening sky. I can’t say we spent a lot of time on the patio either. It was nice to have, but by the end it was getting to be a hassle to maintain the space. I also prefer having the extra storage inside a very large closet rather than in an outdoor shed. But you make do with what you have, and it met our needs as long as I was working at the Library of Congress just two blocks away. It took us three years after I retired to finally find a place we liked. The little balcony on the fourth floor is all we need so as not to feel claustrophobic. But it also overlooks the western skyline. Our patio furniture fit on it nicely. Rather than a garden we have one flower pot and a little herb garden that was a housewarming gift. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t spend some time on the balcony. My husband loves the thunderstorms; I love the sunsets. If the weather is right we will play games together on my iPad or have our evening fruit dessert before watching tv. We are looking forward to seeing how the fall and winter look from this vantage point. It’s been five months since we moved to northern Virginia. It already feels like we’ve been here a very long time.