... on the street where I live!

I have often walked
Down the street before,
But the pavement always
Stayed beneath my feet before.
All at once am I
Several stories high,
Knowing I'm on the street where I live.

OK, so maybe Lerner and Loewe weren't thinking of Steinway Street when they composed that song. (And maybe altering the lyrics from a romantic song to a quip about myself isn't the best way to showcase my music theater degree.) But as I walked to the subway this morning, I took a couple of photos to show you what my street looks like.

First up, the bakery. I don't know about you, but I think the smell of fresh baked bread is JUST wonderful! So having a bakery just a few doors down from my apartment should be heavenly, right?
WRONG! Do you notice where it says "Wholesale and Retail" on the awning? That means that they don't actually sell any of the delicious food they make to individual people like me. From 3 pm until around 5 am the bakers do their thing- filling the neighborhood with the aroma of breads, rolls, and sweets... and we can't even try them! What a tease, right?

Next is the Greek Senior Center/Community Hall. Most weekends there are balloons tied to the gate, while celebrations over baptisms, birthdays, and weddings commence inside.
This next one is always entertaining. They sell porcelain figurines and other such objects... but they're never open. Sometimes they have the metal gate up, so you can look in the windows and see the display cases of dolls, plates, and tea sets... but even then there's always a note on the door explaining that the owner is somewhere else and to call a number if you want to shop. Isn't that funny?
Although there are a few little shops and restaurants here and there, the rest of my walk down Steinway is pretty residential.
I think the row houses on the East side of the street are extra funny because of the front doors. Each house is a mirror of the one next to it... which means that every two sets of front doors are practically touching.
And as I'm sure you noticed, there's not a whole lot of "yard" for these houses, so people tend to get pretty creative. You can find topiary...
Or special arbors for hanging plants...
And even a little wishing well!
That's it for this mini-tour of Steinway Street. If you know the neighborhood at all, you know that the farther South you travel on Steinway, the more commercial it becomes. But in the 2 blocks that I get to see on a daily basis, this is that you encounter. Happy Wednesday!