Appreciating my living space

A couple of weeks ago fall hit Baltimore in full force. As soon as the calendar changed to September, the weather cooled down. My apartment and I were so relieved! I do not have central air conditioning in my apartment and I had no idea how much the heat had been getting to me. All of a sudden I had the energy to move some furniture around in my living room and spend some quality time with my kitchen.

I love my apartment. I do not have a dishwasher, central air conditioning, a garbage disposal, carpet, a washer and dryer, or a balcony. There is no window in my kitchen. The linoleum on my kitchen floor and in the bathroom were poorly laid and are fairly ugly. I live on the eighth floor, which is the top floor of the building. This means there is no way to wash the outsides of my windows so when a bird flies by and relieves itself, I get to cherish the gift it leaves for me months and months. It used to be possible to sneak up to the rooftop, which is what many drunken tenants and their guests occasioned to do – very loudly – after closing time on weeknights. That stopped when someone apparently stuffed a piece of wood down the elevator shaft and rendered the elevator broken. For the next four months. The elevator is up and running again, but still makes for a bumpy, uneasy ride. It always seems to be on the verge of breaking down again and makes my guests a little nervous every time they come visit me. The common areas of the building are gross: dimly lit, could use some new carpet, sometimes smell funny. I feel slightly mortified by the prelude to my apartment every time someone is coming over for the first time.

I love my apartment. I have a decorative fireplace. Once upon a time, this fireplace kept the living room warm. Once upon a time the living room may have been an office or waiting room, from what I hear the reason every apartment in my building is configured differently is because the building used to be all doctor's offices. Today, the fireplace and mantle are a place for my trinkets, plants, and tapered candles stuffed into wine bottles. Except for the kitchen and bathroom, the apartment has beautiful hardwood floors that were refinished just before I moved in a year ago. The apartment is spacious and has nine-foot high ceilings. It gets amazing natural light, coming through two large wood-framed windows in the living room, a bay in my bedroom, and a large window in the bathroom. These windows face downtown, and I can see a sliver of the Inner Harbor from my bedroom. The view, the fireplace, the bay window, the hardwood floors, the location, and the bargain rent made moving here a no-brainer.

Climbing up seven flights of stairs with several bags of groceries or overloading the circuits just by plugging in my iron when the window unit air conditioners and fans are on make me acknowledge that eventually I will want to move. But now fall is here, I just renewed my lease, and I feel satisfied enjoying my great view and my fake fireplace.