Here are a few random thoughts on my neighborhood and the goings on.
When I look out my front window I almost always see children laughing and playing. The other day a little fellow got his four wheeler caught in the rain gutter and he was so serious about the mechanics of getting himself out of his predicament I had to laugh. It makes me happy to see children being themselves.
The neighborhood is what is commonly referred to as "leafy" and it's mostly still green but the dogwoods have turned. The smell of chalkboards and pencil shavings are strong in my memory. There are scarecrows sitting in lawnchairs here and there and the occasional jack-o-lantern. I have an autumn wreath on my front door something like this one:
My neighborhood is solidly working class and we are outside more often than upper middle class folks seem to be. I sit on the front porch and someone is always out and about, walking dogs, doing yard work, sitting on the porch, or just-walking and talking. The music I hear wafting about is usually rap but the lady on the other end of the cul-de-sac plays gospel while she tends to her geraniums. Mahalia Jackson, usually. Hubby plays classical rock when he works on cars.
Political yard signs have only popped up in the last couple of weeks. When you first drive into the neighborhood there is a house with a rebel flag flying and 12, yes 12, McCain/Palin signs all lined up like good little soldiers. The mostly African American neighbors walk on by, unconcerned.
There are woods behind my house and young people regularly get busted there for smoking pot and, well, loitering I guess, as young people always do when they have nothing else to do.
It finally got cold here yesterday and the air is crisp and clean and I feel renewed energy. For what, I do not know. I putter around looking for something. I feel bottled up. Restless. Static. As if I might buzz away into a million pieces if I don't find the thing I don't know I am looking for. For now, I'll just be grateful I am alive and I feel good and that there are people who love me and there are children laughing and playing.
