Neighborhood Improvements

First, I forgot to share the highly exciting news that we're getting a tree for the front of our building! When we first moved into our building, the square tree planter directly in front of it was an empty plot of soil, its tree having perished in a huge November 2009 storm.  (You can see the now-deceased tree in this antiquated Google Streeview photo of our building.)  According to our downstairs neighbors, during the storm the tree plunged through their living room windows, prompting the landlord to replace the windows throughout their apartment (lucky!).  But while the building got an upgrade, the planter sat idle.  (To be fair, last year this plot of soil did bear potatoes, thanks to another enterprising neighbor, Jaime.  I'm just not sure if I'd eat street potatoes.)

Last summer, I looked into what it would require to plant a new tree in the planter.  Turns out we'd have to get permits, contact the owner of the building, blah blah blah--not to mention find a way to get a tree home in the Volvo.  A local nonprofit, Friends of the Urban Forest, facilitates some of the paperwork and provides the actual trees for a modest fee, but will only work on a neighborhood scale -- they want at least 20 residents to be involved before they'll sign onto a neighborhood planting.

So I temporarily gave up on my quest for a tree and instead we planted this cordyline, which has flourished.

But!  A local blog that I read recently announced that a FUF South Bernal Tree Planting was in the works!  Within a day we'd obtained permission and signatures from our landlord and are all set to receive a tree for our building.  Cole is going to the first planting meeting tomorrow evening and we even get to lodge our first and second choices for the type of tree we'd like.  We'll also be helping with other plantings throughout the neighborhood -- it's a team effort.  Personally, I'm dreaming of a magnolia.  And don't worry--our trusty cordyline will be relocated to a large planter somewhere in the vicinity of our entryway.

Second, I've just read my first review of the newly-renovated and under-new-ownership St. Mary's Pub.  This place is about seven or eight blocks from our place, and I've always admired the sign.  More importantly, the new owners are our neighbors across the street.  Cole met them at last fall's block party, which I missed.  Now that I can see from the photos that some of the walls inside this joint appear to be painted the same color as my kitchen, I really feel the need to stop in for a drink.

Yes sirree--exciting things are afoot in SoBe.