West-Facing Kitchen Window

For years the window was hidden behind a piece of what amounted to drywall in the 1970s. We knew it was there because we could see it from the easement between our house and the house three feet to the west of it, the inverse of our house (and vice versa), the two houses built together, in 1912.

Five years after our window was reopened (2014) the eventual new owners of the neighbouring house covered theirs to accommodate their new kitchen design. For years I'm sure the two windows were open to each other and neighbours whispered to each other after their children were put to bed.

Rather than a view to the neighbour's window, Judy decided to frost the new one and put up some glass shelves towards its animation (the window receives no direct sunlight). It is my fault the shelves are so high (they should be six inches lower).

The knitted hens on the top shelf are egg warmers purchased at a Rutland thrift store during my stint in Kelowna, when I was living at Woodhaven and doing a Masters at UBC Okanagan (2016-18). The hen on the left fits perfectly over a tiger cowrie and presents a strange sight when looked at from below. At the centre is a rolled up piece of birch bark and a four-inch length of quartz. The photograph at the far-right was purchased at a Berlin street market in 2012 and features a proud man taken at some point during the Weimer era.

The second shelf is busier. At the far-left is a second generation spider plant birthed from a spiderette produced from Brian Jungen's plant that miraculously survived the 2021 White Rock Lake Fire. Moving right: a small ceramic dish of unknown origin, its hidden side chipped; an African wood carving of a gazelle; a store-bought asparagus; two free-standing candle drips I snapped off a candle that Dan lit and abandoned; and a 2013(?) pot by Glenn Lewis.

On the ledge below: a plant I purchased for the garden that turned out to be an indoor plant; a small wooden bowl carved by a Port Clements, Haida Gwaii-based settler; and a vase I did not put there, that I am still unsure belongs there.