Al fresco

…is another person’s blog-fodder!

I first noticed this couch–set out, presumably, for rubbish collection, unless the tenants of this house want a comfy place to read their mail–when I let Reggie out this morning. On Monday, I’d chatted with my landlord about leaf collection: each neighborhood has a scheduled day when city crews collect leaves piled along residential streets, but you have to make sure those leaves don’t blow onto the street lest you get slapped with a fine. “Ah, that makes sense,” I remarked. “Over the weekend during the windstorm, I saw some neighbors frantically raking leaves out of the street, which seemed to be a losing battle.”

Autumnal

I don’t know if those furious rakers are the (previous) owners of this abandoned furniture, but personally I think it looks downright homey to have a russet couch nestled among road-raked leaves. When I let Reggie out this morning, it was still too dark for pictures, so I make a mental note to snap an image or two once the sun was out. Later in the morning, I saw the sun shining brightly, and I relished the thought of well-lit photos of out-of-place upholstery. Before I could finish the online work I was doing at my front-facing office window, though, a pickup truck pulled up and parked in front of the couch, blocking the photo I’d already envisioned as being “mine.” “Oh, just leave already,” I found myself fretting. “And whatever you do, don’t touch that couch!

After about a half hour, I heard the sound of ignition: yes! The pickup pulled away, and the couch remained untouched. Taking advantage of a well-lit opportunity, I dashed outside to snap, snap, snap. Roadside furniture isn’t a rarity in a college town where students habitually toss items they can’t afford to move, but this couch looks cleaner than most. Now that I’ve collected my requisite photos, this couch is free again for the taking: just make sure you don’t kick any leaves into the street when you come to carry it away.

It’s November 1st: do you know where your novel-to-be is? This morning I kicked off National Novel Writing Month and duly recorded my Day One progress on my writing blog, where you can get your vicarious NaNoWriMo kicks. Enjoy!