About our bay window

We have a bay window.  Those of you who have visited us may remember it:  it’s got ivy all over it a lot of the time, and it does its level best to get delivery people to notice our house number and realize we have a side entrance only.  Lately, a beagle can be spotted in it, resting on the back of a couch as if she were a cat.  To be honest, sometimes we’re not entirely sure she isn’t.

Our bay window faces our street, and people who walk by –or even drive by– can see through it into our living room.  (In fact, our first floor is so small, they can practically see through it into our back yard.)  Sometimes, we wave through it at our neighbors, and sometimes they wave back.  When we’re expecting visitors, small children (usually our own, but you never know) sometimes gather within it to crane their necks and check every passing car for the So-and-So family.

If the eyes are the window to the soul (which seems a lot more likely than the toes or the elbows), can our bay window also look out into the world, or even try to make eye contact?  It seems to be staring straight north at first, but if you pay attention long enough, you’ll notice it also steals a glance east or west every so often.  Out of the corner of itself, it sometimes notices a neighbor, a bunny, or a missing barrette, or the parked car whose stereo is making its panes rattle until it wishes it could blink…

Our bay window also makes our living room just a tiny bit bigger, which means we can share our home with a couple more people for Oscar night or play dates.  It’s often the way people remember which house is ours when they haven’t been over for a while.  It allows itself to be blinded when the day is done, and yet it still sometimes invites breezes and cricket chirps into our lives on late summer evenings.

And so, if I may say so, our bay window is a lot like this site:  You may think you’re looking in, but we’re also looking out.  We’d probably like to make eye contact, even if you’re just a passing stranger.  And maybe, depending on the light and the angle and how much you’re paying attention, you might just see yourself in here.