Words on a house

Words written on the side of a building usually mean one of two things: signage or graffiti. In the case of the home of Hank Hines and his family in St. Petersburg, Fla., they mean something else: art.

Hines is the director of the spectacular Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, so he should know a thing or two about art and, indeed, the many words printed neatly in Times Roman font on his house do appear artful, even if a bit weird. Hines and his wife, according to a story in the Tampa Bay Times on June 30, first chose architecture-related words for their home, then added words like waffles that were meaningful to their family. The family always eats waffles on weekends.

As much as I love words, I can't imagine plastering my favorite words on the sides of my house. Do I even have favorite words? Words like euphoria, rhododendron, tomfoolery and saunter are beautiful to hear and fun to say, but I don't think I would like them in large letters on my house. I rather like the fact that words, looking like a giant vocabulary list, decorate the Hines home in St. Petersburg, however. I hope to drive by it one day.