Window Shopping

In a hundred-year-old neighborhood, you never know what you're going to find 

-- or who's going to find you -- when you're out for a walk. 

Can you believe someone actually gave me this beautiful leaded glass window?

I'll tell you all about it but let me back up for a bit and tell you the whole story first.

It was a brilliant blue-sky kind of morning when Ron and I decided to take advantage of the sunny winter day and go for a walk in one of our favorite old neighborhoods. 

Roxy took off, pulling at the leash and investigating new smells, 

while we admired the gorgeous architecture of turn-of-the-century Denver.

There are so many beautiful homes in this lovely neighborhood, it's a real treat 

to simply go for a morning walk. We felt like we had stepped back in time and 

imagined horse-drawn carriages clip-clopping up and down these wide streets. 

We spotted an "Alamo" style house with some unusual stained-glass windows 

and stopped to take a closer look.

As we were pointing to the upper windows, an older man wearing a dark brown bathrobe
and holding a cup of coffee walked out onto the porch

We weren't quite sure what he would do or say as we stared at his home.

"We're just admiring your pretty windows," I said pleasantly, 

hoping he wasn't going to call the cops. 

That's when another man in a green bathrobe with coffee in hand joined him on the porch. 

We could see them talking quietly. Then Green Bathrobe said, "Do you like this sort of window?"

"Oh, yes!," I replied, "I just love them."

Most of the old Victorians in Denver have amazing stained-glass windows

like this unusual clover-shaped beauty just down the street. 

"Would you like to have one?"

Wait. What? Was he going to try to sell me something? 

I wondered if we had become so cynical from all the bad news on TV 

that we wrongly assumed the worst of people sometimes.
I didn't want to be that person. 

Still, I stalled to see what he he would say next.

Then Brown Bathrobe said they'd rescued this window from the old house 

next door when it was demolished. 

A blah three-story brick apartment building stood in its place which I found sad.

He told us the salvaged window had been sitting on their front porch for years.

Finally I got up the nerve to ask him, "So, are you giving it away?"

"Yeah," he said softly, then sipped his coffee. 

At this point, I didn't even know what it looked like 

but readily climbed their front steps to check it out. 

When he held it up, I gasped.
Victorian leaded glass!

One pane was cracked but all the pieces were there. 

Raggedy sash ropes hung from both sides and the frame was filthy.

But I knew it was coming home with me. 

"This is so nice of you," I said. "Thank you so much."

Once we got it home, Ron removed the rope and repaired the broken glass 

which had been hobbled together with textured vinyl tape.
He replaced the ugly tape with clear packaging tape and now
you have to look closely to notice the break.

Then I Zip-Stripped the glass which was clouded with white spray paint. 

The dirty frame just needed a bath. 

 Finally, it looked as beautiful as it must have one hundred years ago.

I found the perfect place for it leaning against the wall
on top of the guest room's old chest of drawers.

I still can't believe these perfect strangers gifted us with this wonderful piece of history. 

And now, every time I look at the window,
I remember those two sweet gentlemen in their bathrobes.

I think they'd be happy with their window's new home. Don't you?

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