Last Updated on May 19, 2022
A 30-inch tall, green metal girl frog wearing a slicker and boots, and carrying an umbrella; a photo display of six or seven different smiling toddlers, and a door, shelf, and wall covered in gorgeous handmade silk and paper flowers are just three of the often wonderful displays that mark our “properties” here in Charlestown.
My (now) 10-year-old granddaughter, Maddie, has been visiting Charlestown since May of 2016, and during our first three or four years here would frequently suggest that we “go for a walk and look at the Day-Core.” She loved moving through Charlestown’s hallways to visit the stone dog in Chapel Court whose wardrobe changes with the seasons and holidays, the scariest Halloween display, the ever-changing collection of personal travel photos adorning a niched doorway in Brookside, or a whimsical figurine that made her giggle.
This “day-core” is the equivalent of the lawns, trees and flower gardens that proclaimed our homes and yards our own before we moved into our apartments. It gives passers-by a glimpse of our personality, predilections, travel preferences, or sense of humor, and declares what is behind the doors as ours.
Maddie and I have spent many, many hours touring the “day-core,” exclaiming over a particularly beautiful plate, a Russian nesting doll wearing the faces of U.S. Presidents, a breathtakingly creative Christmas vignette, or a sculptured pet of one kind or another. She especially loves the holiday displays, and any Halloween presentation that features a big bowl of well-wrapped candy to be shared with passers-by. They are as much a part of her life as the Christmas displays her dad mounts on her lawn at home, and our tours have familiarized her with Charlestown’s geography so that I believe you could drop her down anywhere in the community and she could find her way back to my door.
Thank you, neighbors, for the “day-core” (which Maddie NOW knows is pronounced decor, but still calls day-core just for old time’s sake). Your creations help keep my walks through the community interesting, and ALWAYS make me think with a smile of the small person I love best in the whole world.
Dayle Dawes
This “day-core” is the equivalent of the lawns, trees and flower gardens that proclaimed our homes and yards our own before we moved into our apartments. It gives passers-by a glimpse of our personality, predilections, travel preferences, or sense of humor, and declares what is behind the doors as ours.
Maddie and I have spent many, many hours touring the “day-core,” exclaiming over a particularly beautiful plate, a Russian nesting doll wearing the faces of U.S. Presidents, a breathtakingly creative Christmas vignette, or a sculptured pet of one kind or another. She especially loves the holiday displays, and any Halloween presentation that features a big bowl of well-wrapped candy to be shared with passers-by. They are as much a part of her life as the Christmas displays her dad mounts on her lawn at home, and our tours have familiarized her with Charlestown’s geography so that I believe you could drop her down anywhere in the community and she could find her way back to my door.
Thank you, neighbors, for the “day-core” (which Maddie NOW knows is pronounced decor, but still calls day-core just for old time’s sake). Your creations help keep my walks through the community interesting, and ALWAYS make me think with a smile of the small person I love best in the whole world.
Dayle Dawes