Sightseeing from home + Elsewhere

The weekly micro-decorating newsletter * Issue 9 of 13, SS25 *
Subscribe free *

Have you been sightseeing this summer? You may think I'm talking about the default activity of the tourist, but I mean the everyday version – seeing what's right in front of you. An extravagant trip isn't necessary; you don't even need to leave home. Just slow down and really look at your surroundings until their overlooked beauty is revealed.

It's something I strive for in Montreal, a city that has long been my second home. For the fourth summer in a row, I'm renting the same apartment just off avenue du Mont-Royal. The sequence of blocks between here and the Metro station is a well-worn pathway for me, but I try to see something new every time I walk it.

The starting point is satisfying too. I'm on the second floor of a duplex, and the front balcony offers an elevated view of the street. The buildings are no more than three storeys high, and the tallest trees are about four. Curving staircases wind their way up into the foliage:

Looking to the right, I peer through companion balconies:

Looking to the left, I see even more:

In a past issue, I wrote about naming your home and explained why my Toronto apartment is called "The Treehouse". That may have something to do with why I feel so at ease in my Montreal rental. I'm literally housed amid the trees, branches caressing the architecture from every direction.

The back balcony offers more to gaze at, like spiral staircases...

...and lines of fresh laundry:

Squirrels jump from tree to rooftop to staircase in feats that rival Cirque de Soleil. When my pupils need a rest, I have a written Montreal to lose myself in, courtesy of Mavis Gallant:

It's comforting to know that whenever I look up, there's more sightseeing to do. From the front balcony, the back, or just out the window. Let tourists have their monuments. All we need is where we are right now.

Elsewhere

Earlier this month, The New York Times ran a moving visual essay about laundry suspended on clotheslines:

It's a perfect example of what I mean by sightseeing. The writer is in Italy when she has her laundry epiphany, and she stays alert for similar moments at home in Connecticut. As an artist, she's got sensitivity to beauty built-in – but it's an aptitude any of us can develop.

Bonus

Dive into the guy with an eye archives, for another take on the appeal of suspending things.

Thank you for reading.

Montreal photos by Guy Koolhof.