>I don't recall benches, per se, but during the 1970s I saw people all over the
>rural eastern half of Spain sitting on their front stoops or in chairs.  They were
>engaged in a variety of activities including just talking.  It struck me at the
>time as odd that the people in chairs generally sat facing the front of their
>houses.  This in spite of the fact that the view was often spectacular had they
>sat facing away from their houses.
>
>JH Brothers IV

Jamie:

That reminds me of Iain Walker's story about a house he encountered at the
head of a valley in Scotland. He asked why there were no windows or doors on
the wall facing the gorgeous view of a valley.

The farmer reminded him that the wind came up
the valley in the winter. Of course you wouldn't want a window that leaked.

It's the "installed" part that I am looking for.  Every brick house in
Camden has either the benches or scars from them, and the frame houses that
don't have benches probably did at one time. Across the street is a house
with scars from three sets of benches.

Similar benches appear occasionally elsewhere, but how common were they?


Ned Heite ([log in to unmask])
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While I readily confess **********************
to being expenditure-challenged, *************
I AM NOT A TIGHTWAD! *************************
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