Chapter 52
My name is Andrea
I am a proud graduate of the inaugural Documentary Media Studies program at The New School
I live with my dog in New York City
I have a NEW companion tumblelog, inner sanctum. Please come see it!
send me an email! andrea.nugent@gmail
Going through some old photos.
Very early morning in my (NY) living room.
Just got this at Goodwill for Anna. It’s a Morse Fotomat 4300, Made in Japan. I’m guessing It’s from the late 50’s, but it’s a little harder to date foreign-made things. I am in love with this gleaming beauty! I don’t think it has ever been used.
Anna Lodwick Love
1972 also saw the addition of a half bath. I adore these tiles. And, since my mom has four of these amazing hand towels, also from that year, I snagged one for me and one for Anna.
In 1972, my mom had the place redone, adding wall cabinets, a sink, dishwasher, and washer and dryer in the kitchen. And she had these fabulous tiles put in all around.
This old bassena is in the entrance hall of the building. Until 1972, we had one in the entrance hall of the apartment, too. In fact, it was the one source of water in the apartment and it only ran cold. If you wanted warm water, like for washing, you heated it on the stove.
My Vienna
View from the cabinett into the kitchen. See how thick the wall between the rooms is? When I was little, a swing hung in that doorway — the kind for very small children, with a back, and a bar across the front - and I just loved swinging in that thing.
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My Vienna
A Walk in the Park
Across the street from our apartment building is a park where I was often taken as a child (as was my mother, and as were my children). The first thing you come across is this Mid-century bear statue (1). I sat on that bear many a time when I was little (as did my children).
After leaving the bear, you next see this enormous bomb shelter (called “bunker” in German) (2), an everlasting remnant of WW II. There are actually two in this park, and numerous others scattered throughout Vienna. They are now being used in various ways — one is an aquarium — because, of course, there is no way to tear them down safely. They’re pretty heavy-duty.
The sight of this thing is etched very strongly among my earliest memories. There’s a playground at the base of it, and I spent many hours there as a child (not to mention as a mom).
My mom didn’t use this shelter during the war. The building in front of hers had been a post office, long ago, and because back then the post office was used for transferring cash, the basement of the building had extremely sturdy and secure walls, and was suitable to go into each day near the end of the war, when the U.S. was bombing Vienna on a daily basis.
From this angle (3), it looks like a monster in a science fiction movie, looming among those other buildings, that are just kind of standing there, minding their own business.
Like most parks, this one is ringed by some very fine, old houses. I never noticed this one as a child, not until I was much older and could appreciate such things. It’s a splendid Art Nouveau building in pristine condition (4).
Judge Testifies for Marijuana Legalization in California
Retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James P. Gray’s testimony was one of the last to be heard, and to use a World Series metaphor, we couldn’t have asked for a better “clean up” hitter
My Vienna
Our 91 year-old family friend texts on his Handy (cellphone) with the help of a magnifying glass.
Mainly my mom lives in Baltimore, and she comes here four times a year for a month at a time. This is where she is the happiest.
A long, narrow bedroom like this one, with one window, is called a cabinett in German.
My mom moved here with her mother and grandmother in 1928, when she was four, and lived here until she married my dad. When my grandmother died, my mom took it over and has a life-long lease. That’s how they do it here.
When I was a girl, the place was heated by a wood-burning stove in this living room.
My Vienna
Well, I wanted to make a slide show, but this ancient computer can’t handle that, I’ll have to do individual photos.
The first set I want to show you is my mother’s apartment. It’s on the top floor of this building, which is about 175 years old.
