When The Big Daddy and I bought this house, there were thirty kids that lived on this street. Thirty. My kids were lucky enough to get included in the pack and their memories of growing up here include kick the can, forts, haunted houses, block parties, a remake of the Blair Witch Project, freeze pops, ghost, sprinklers, slip-n-slide, cicadas and lightning bugs.
In time, most families moved out to bigger homes in other neighborhoods and it became a lonesome, little street with no signs of kids. It was a sad thing to watch, especially knowing how it used to be.
A few years ago, a family with four kids moved in, and now all of a sudden there are probably fifteen kids living on this street. When the weather is nice and the windows are open, I can hear them outside and it makes me happy……..this sound of play.
At the top of the street is a widow who has been a lovely neighbor all these years. She can also be a pill. As in why do all these houses have all this crap in front of them? She stopped me the other day to ask me if I thought these things being left out were going to attract burglars. Well, tike bikes and plastic pools don’t usually bring much at the pawn shop. It doesn’t stop her from walking up and down the street in plastic gloves picking up trash and giving the stinkeye to young parents who are doing their best and likely too exhausted by day’s end to care about what’s been left out.
This was left in my yard last week. I’m sure the necktie snake will find his way home one of these days, but for now he is the mascot for the young at heart.
