Looking out the back

Off the kitchen, is the balcony opening to the triangular center of this small block. Ours is a wooden deck, well worn, with wooden rails, supports and curly details. Under the rails is fancy wrought iron. All this has seen a century of summer sun and winter snow, I’m sure.

There is a net hanging from the roof to keep the pigeons from roosting. There is no division between neighbors, just space broken up by chairs, potted plants and laundry racks. We have a small table covered with an embroidered cloth and two chairs tucked into the acute angle between the buildings.  The house rules say that smoking is restricted to the balcony.

The kitchen door is one of those modern European window style that can hinge two ways, at the side or the bottom to tilt in. Unfortunately, the lower hinge is broken, probably by too many American guests who couldn’t figure it out. The door also has two chain slider guards, one waist high. The other one is  at the top of the door to protect the sleeping occupants on a warm night. Both of them were latched this morning when I attempted to have my morning coffee outside. It took quite a while until my sleepy body could stretch enough to undo the slide.