Although some of the flats in our area have been bought by private owners, the whole place is still very much a full-on council estate complete with its own authentic council estate landmarks which I thought was something that we could discuss today.
Ask anyone on our estate and they will no doubt tell you that our most precious landmark is the Great Standing Discarded Refrigerator on the east side (which I am proud to say that we are lucky enough to have a perfect view of from our living room window).
I have asked around to try and find out when this landmark was created but unfortunately no one on the estate seems to know the exact date. So far the most accurate and reliable answer that I have received has come from Jeff who has lived here for 22 years and who said, ‘Been ‘ere a long time, in it?’ and judging by the thickness of the moss covering the Great Standing Discarded Refrigerator, he is very right; it has indeed been here a very long time.
Sadly The Discarded refrigerator is no longer in its original place since that night a couple of months back when it was jolted out of place by the drunk from two floors up who allegedly walked straight into it while singing, ‘Dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen.’
The guy had to have six stitches on his forehead. He is fine now. Although he does stare a lot now days and sometimes tries to catch imaginary flies. But the most important thing is that the refrigerator is fine.
Next up is the Fallen Refrigerator, situated on the north side of the estate just behind the playground and in front of the garage door number 346 by the dirty yellow light with the word NO carved into the scum covering it.
There really isn’t much to say about the Fallen Refrigerator. Except it is relatively new and that it must be nice for the people on the north side to finally have a landmark they can enjoy and call their own.
And last but by no means the least; we have the beautiful monument of the Broken White Toilet which I believe is the contribution of one the upstairs flats to the humble entrance of our building. This monument is at least five months old and it has been perfectly positioned so that it can be best viewed from just outside the door and right by the buzzers to the flats. Yes we do believe first impressions count. I personally think that the Broken White Toilet has added a touch of class to the entrance of our building that it was desperately in need of.
9 comments:
shirin...glad to see this beautiful imagery here...although i detect the SLIGHTEST hint of sarcasm...we were on a week long trip through the mountains to the ocean last week, and as much as i appreciate all that nature crap (nothing in the world like feeling the water from the waves wash over my feet from the pond you are on the other side of three thousand some miles away)...i breathed a big sigh of relief to cross the bridge from canada into detroit, land of all things man made and falling into disrepair (or despair as it were).
sometimes though it is these man made things that don't make any sense that provide the most inspiration for me. just down the road from me, there has been for some time a wooden box on a street corner painted yellow with the word "EGGS" painted on it in black along with an arrow pointing up. for as long as anyone knows, this box has been quite clearly padlocked shut.
in the town where i lived some years ago, there was this school building that backed up to the woods, and on the back of the building there was a set of stairs that led to nothing. no door. just stairs leading up to a brick wall. i must say that set of stairs has never quite left my mind.
those are the things your post reminded me of. i wonder i guess whether or not you think of that refrigerator fondly and if not, maybe someday you will. thanks for humoring me, in any case. mostly just wanted to write and tell you i'm glad shahin turned me onto to your blog, because i quite enjoy it and missed visiting while we were gone.
cheers, amanda
Loved your refrigerators & toilet!!! Why doesn't Kamyar take a few shots of them? Loved Amanda's "the steps that led to a wall" as well. Great name for a story or song.
You have cheated Shirin. You have painted in words! And such a lovely work of art. I can fully imagine it. Next time to Oxford, I will be looking for a broken white toilet to be guarded at a safe distance by a moss-covered standing frig and another lying to have a rest. The only living room which had the best view would accomodate a lovely couple from Iran. RRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG.
Hee hee, so Behrooz do you come to Oxford often then? I’m just waiting for this stupid rain to stop so I can go out and take a few pictures of these beautiful monuments for you, Amanda and the lovely Crazy Chef :-)
By the way Crazy Chef, thanks for reminding me about Funny in Farsi, I remember really wanting to read it when it first came out but then I completely forgot about it. I will definitely order it from the library next time I go to town.
Amanda it’s great to have you back and it’s good to know that you are back safe and sound from the nature crap trip. The best thing about where we live is that although we are smack bang in the middle of wild countryside and fields and parks and all that stuff, we still manage to live in perfect harmony with all the nature and wildlife that surrounds us. When all the nature stuff gets too much for us to handle, we add a little homey touch of our own and put a refrigerator outside, and then three families of squirrels and a couple of woodpigeons come and make it their home. We put a broken toilet outside, it rains, it’s filled with water and magpies come and drink from it. We get a puncher; a couple of foxes come in the middle of the night and fix it. Well that’s what I’m hoping anyway, it’s about time the lazy wildlife started pulling their weight too, it’s not right us always giving and giving and them always taking and taking, is it?
I think I have already said that I love ur sense of humor, right!? ;) Wish ur white toilet to be soon accompained by a black electric range on the oppiste side of the entrance. . .pardon, in Europe they don't use electric ranges but gas ones, correct!? ;) ah, well, U pick: either that or a microwave ;D
can't wait for the pictures! and maybe someday i can see the (in)famous toliet and fridge for myself on one of my ventures to the UK (in october it will be 4 trips across the pond this year!)
i second behrooz, you paint your words and i admire that. the melding of humanity and nature is a great point for inspiration and you make it work well...we found last week we probably appreciate mountains mostly because they made for excellent touring in the mini :-) we'll have to send you and kamyar pics
manda
I'm gald that so many people appreciate your "cuteness in every way"; you're the best on the blog Shirin, I'm really proud that I discovered you first, and didn't say nothin! let them find out for themselves.
Guess what!!!! Your mother-in-law loves you soooo very much and is proud of her dauther-in-law soooo very much...
For Ahmadinejad's sake put some space between your paragraphs, Shirin.
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