Journeys›Photograph

Our House in Grand Rapids

·#summer#home#architecture#grand-rapids#2006
A brick house with two men on the porch, one seated and one standing by the door with an American flag.

Moving day at our house in Grand Rapids, and everybody came to help. The flag went up on the porch bracket by the front door, and by evening there were two guys parked on the porch behind the iron railing with drinks, which felt about right.

Inside, the boxes stacked up faster than anyone could open them — dish barrels along the wainscoting in the dining area, the card table set up with folding chairs so Grandma had somewhere to sit with a red cup while the rest of us hauled. The kitchen got worked over first, plates coming out of the paper and up into the cabinets, three people at it at once around the island.

The living room is still bare except for a stereo on the floor in the corner and one white curtain hung on its rod. The basement is painted — red walls, dark floor, an old metal desk down there already.

Out back, the grass got its first mow under new ownership, pushing the mower along the hedge by the neighbor's garage. Jeep in the driveway, hostas around the front steps, house number 19 on the arched door.

A brick house with an American flag and green shutters, with one man standing and another sitting on the porch.A black Jeep Cherokee is parked on a driveway in front of a brick garage, surrounded by green grass and trees.A residential backyard featuring a brick house with a sunroom, a green lawn, a dark SUV, and a small shed.A finished basement room with red and white walls, exposed wood ceiling, dark floor, and two desks.An elderly woman sits at a table with red cups in a room with a window, moving boxes, and a striped light.Three women in a kitchen, two holding plates, near wooden cabinets and an island with beverages.An empty living room with brown walls, white trim, a fireplace, windows, beige carpet, and a small stereo system.A person pushes a green and yellow lawnmower on a sunny lawn next to a white house and large green bush.

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