When we first moved to New York I was shocked by the amount of work it takes to exist here on a daily basis. As much as I love weather, it's a heck of a lot of work to prepare for
and live through! The rumbling summer thunderstorms, while exciting, can knock trees and power lines down, bringing modern day luxuries like running water and internet connections to a screeching halt for days. Lovely nor'easter snowstorms in the dead of winter, as locals would say, fuhhgetaboutit! The preparation for these mood swings of mother nature are exhausting, as I would quickly learn. While it was May when we arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed in the Empire state five years ago, one Sunday afternoon Joe said, "time to prepare the woodpile for winter." After spitting my latte across the floor I realized he wasn't joking when he tossed a pair of gloves in my direction and headed for his truck. While some couples have a weekend place, our home away from home is the Home Depot, so we sped off to gather discarded crates (remember yesterday when I said sometimes peoples trash is anothers treasure??). Still working my Southern California tan, $300 jeans and designer sunglasses (all of which are loooooong gone) Joe could see I was totally baffled..crates? Huh?? Yep, we use them to rest stacked wood safe from the wet elements of the ground beneath. After the nightmares of where these filthy things had been wore off, I began to think of all the cool things we could do with them. Tool storage in a garage, garden beds, decked seating areas in the backyard or, like the photo above demonstrates, a funky bar in a TriBeca loft. Why not? They're free!
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