A year ago last April, we came home from spending the winter in Florida. We were so upset that we left the Sunshine State, as we always seem to have a great time there.
We never have to stop and think, “What should I do next?” Believe me, we know.
So, now I am home and decided to take a walk around the block. Walking in our neighborhood in East Hartford, Connecticut, isn’t at all like walking in our development in Florida, as the sidewalks in Florida are not cracked and bumpy as much as they are in East Hartford.
I just have to get used to being in Connecticut once again. We have six months and a half months to go before heading back to Florida.
I had heard something about a fire happening a few weeks ago and, on the corner of Trinity Lane and Roxbury, and found the house that had the fire.
It was a ranch-style house that was demolished and a sign put on the door saying that it was condemned. Here are many houses in this community, and the bulk of them are ranch-style houses with five rooms. Several houses have garages built adjoining the house, and some of the homes have porches. It is a peaceful and quiet neighborhood, or it used to be.
Anyway, we expected another ranch-style house, but it is not what we got.
For the longest time — several months in fact — work on the new house wasn’t started. Maybe it was the weather, either too hot or too humid. No one knows, but eventually work started. As they say, if the weather isn’t good in New England, just wait and it will change. It finally did.
It was slow work, and during this time, my husband and I went on several mini trips. We took a trip to New York in the middle of May to attend a family function, and we also took a trip to see some friends in Maine in the early party of June. We had a glorious time in Maine visiting and seeing sights.
There were some day trips thrown in, plus a trip to Saybrook, Connecticut, where some of our relatives live close to the beach.
We were busy, but we also like to keep a progress report on the house that was being rebuilt and also being expanded. Whenever we could, we tended to look to see what was going on at the house.
We tried to keep ourselves busy anticipating Florida, but we were still amazed when October came. My goodness, now we are able to count weeks instead of months.
The summer went on and one day, lo and behold, the house looked completed, as it was a lovely ranch style. I didn’t think there would be more being built, but believe it or not, they started to build a second story.
At first, I looked at it and didn’t know what to think, but as the work progressed, it took the shape of a lovely two-story house. When work first started, since most of the houses were ranch style, I honestly thought that it would end up like the others but, no, it stands out.
It is in a class by itself.
I would like to add that when we came home this year from Florida, we went to see the house and it is so lovely.
Guess they knew what they were doing when they built it as a two-story house.
By Helene Rubenstein
Published June 25, 2014
