Golly! Today sure was a lovely April day, just perfect for getting out there and enjoying April, and even acquiring all the pictures I might need to put up a photo thread for this month, which happens to be April. Whoopee!
However, it was very sunny, plus it was warm and breezy. The warm part got to be a bit much after a while, the breezy part was nice, and the sunny part... Well... after about five hours out in the sun, my face is sunburnt, as are my forearms and the tops of my hands. Why aren't my wrists sunburnt though, you ask? Well, I was wearing my black leather bracers, which go just great with my black leather motorcycle boots. Add them up and I look like a leather pervert in training. And as it turned out, the bracers also block sunlight. Who knew? So there you have it. Red forearms. Red hands. White wrists. It's a leather-pervert farmer's tan!
In addition, I encountered cats and a Weimaraner.
All that and you don't even know which neighborhood we're exploring. Anyway, let's get started!
Today in Asheville...
Ignore this sign. We're not really in West Asheville.
Well, technically, I guess we are. If I were to cross this bridge, I would be in the River District, so I definitely am on the west side of the French Broad River.
Thing is though, I-26/240 slices West Asheville in half, and while the westernmost half is thriving, the eastern half... not so much. It's affordable though, as is the rest of West Asheville, which is attracting new residents priced out of other in-town neighborhoods. The eastern part is also steadily mutating into its very own neighborhood, which has acquired the wonderful name of
East West Asheville. It's bounded on the west and north by I-26/240 and on the east and south by the French Broad River.
East West Asheville greets you with eye candy. Just in case you were curious, yes there was in fact a dead raccoon stinking from the bushes about where I took this picture. Not even this guy's cologne drowned out the smell of it. I appreciated his effort though.
Note: This is not eye candy.
Yeah... I got nothing to add to this.
SSP bylaws require the inclusion of a squirrel in every photo thread. Don't blame me, I don't make the rules. I just go along with them. As will you if you know what's good for you.
Your guess is as good as mine.
It's a steal!
Welcome to the Rocket Club!
The entire building is painted silver. You can't call it anything but eye-catching.
The aforementioned Weimaraner. Her name is Creepy.
I approve of art deco gas stations.
This is not a threat that one makes lightly either, so watch your back.
The effort is admirable, but it is not yet hot enough to stir fry on the sidewalk. Perhaps by August, or late July at the earliest -- be patient.
Would you believe this house dates from 1857? According to the plaque next to the front door, it does. The girl with pink hair on the steps leading down to the sidewalk dates to 1980, in case you were wondering.
You've been noticing these things on various houses, haven't you? It is the mark of the hippie. Never,
ever approach a house with these mandalas hanging up unless you have a few hours to devote to the lecture you're going to get on the benefits of veganism or about how Western culture is a hopeless spiral of unenlightened, outdated patriarchal capitalist hegemony.
Here we have the scrap metal garden.
This is part of a medical complex that includes Asheville's free HIV clinic. If memory serves, their mental health services are housed in this converted home.
The persistence of downtown. It's practically inescapable, really.
And that was a
lot of walking around. Thirsty work, too, and so I went here...
...and got this. it's frozen chai tea. Highly recommended.
This is probably more Asheville than is strictly necessary:
Norwood Park and UNC-A in "March": Aristotle is my homeboy
Five Points and Chestnut Hill in February: Boobs, squid, and the Blair Street witch project
Downtown in January: Assorted hideous beasts, attractively arrayed