Wash day or an hour in our rooftop

As I have said before, I have to go to our rooftop to wash my clothes. That's where the washing machine room is. Even though I have to go up a flight of stairs, it is worth it because I get to spend an hour or more in the sunshine and I can watch the goings on in other rooftops, or the high-rise apartments near-by. I can look down to the street below, which is usually empty of traffic or people walking about. These simple things might not seem much to some but after months in isolation they now qualify as first rate entertainment for me.

Here's what I see as I wait for the washing machine to do its magic:

This is the view of our street looking southward. It's not a long street, it is barely 100 meters long. Most of the people in the houses that line the street have lived here most of their lives. The neighborhood is mostly residential but as you can see from the two office buildings in the background, that is slowly changing. Here is the other end, the northern end, of the street:

Again, one can see behind that large, hundred-years-old tree the encroaching office buildings and high-rise apartments that are beginning to invade what was once an all residential part of the city.

But, this neighborhood is so well connected with the "Circuito", a freeway that rings the city, nearby, and wide tree-lined avenues with dividers that are like small parks, and two of the largest parks of the city, Parque España and Parque México, just blocks away, it has become prime real estate much sought after by developers.

But, meanwhile, it is still a great place to live with quiet streets like ours just a five minute walk from Avenues like Tamaulipas and Mazatlán with their hundreds of bars, restaurants, and cafes, most of which, if not all, are now closed until further notice.

So, getting back to my petits amusers, my little amusements, let me continue with what I can see from my rooftop:

This is the rooftop of my neighbors right across the street it is typical. They, like a lot of other people in the street, and indeed in the city, have a small garden in the back These gardens have become precious space because people are beginning to use them to grow vegetables. Garden clubs are beginning to pop-up all over, and in fact we buy vegetables from one of them.

The six-story building that can be seen at the top of the picture is an interesting place. It was slightly damages by the earthquake of a couple of years ago. Most of the tenants moved out while repairs were done to it. Most did not come back when he repairs were done. But, one chap, the guy who lives on the sixth floor did. Before the pandemic, he used to throw a party every Saturday night. There would be a lot of people, live music, lots of lights and laughter. Now I see him exercising, doing push-ups, but comes Saturday night, no party is held.

As one can see, everyone hangs laundry to dry in the rooftop. But, what is most interesting about this picture are the buildings in the background. In Mexico City, you can't build horizontally: there is no space and if there is, it is very expensive. So, when people need another room or two, they build up, vertically. One can see how the houses in the street that runs parallel to ours have added rooms.

Here's another use of rooftop space. Lots of people keep their dogs in their rooftops. This is my daughter's dog. When she gets bored by being cooped-up in my daughter's apartment, or when my grandson gets too annoying, she comes up here for a bit of sunshine or just to have a bit of quiet time on her own.

As one can see, there are no people in the rooftops. The altitude of Mexico City is more than two thousand two-hundred meters. At this altitude, on a clear day the sun can be ferocious. Most people wait until the late afternoon to come up and enjoy the cool air as the sun sets. But, the rainy season is starting so it rains most afternoons. I'll see if anyone will come up this afternoon and I'll take pictures.

Although I greatly enjoy my time on the roof, while I wait for the washing machine to stop and I can hang my clothes to dry, there are some things that I see that disturb me.
 
As I lean over the wall and look down on our street, I do see some people walking about. They are mostly young people. They walk in pairs, couples holding hands, young men talking and laughing. What is disturbing is that few wear masks. A couple of days ago, I said to three boys that were walking by that they should be wearing masks. They said they didn't have any and that anyway they were just going to the supermarket to buy something for that night's dinner. I said that the masks were not so much for them but for other people. "If you don't wear a mask, and you are asymptomatic, with just by talking and laughing you could be spreading the virus all over people and things." They just shrugged their shoulders.

With the purported peak of infections coming up in the first two weeks of May, I wonder what attitudes like that will bring us.