Thursday, April 16, 2009

An afternoon in the life of a neighborhood

I sit on our porch.
It is the only open porch on the street, all the others have been converted to "rooms".
The sun shines warmly on my arms , the wind is cool on my face. I wear a flannel shirt, unbuttoned and rolled up my arms. It feels good.
There is a dove cooing on the line, there are children from the neighborhood playing out in the street. This street is safe for children, it is short, looks like a dead end, but isn't and is very narrow.
Cars cannot go fast, even if they wanted to.
The children play and laugh. A parent comes out and checks on them, everything is fine, The children continue paying and laughing.
It is a mixed group, Latin, polish, Jamaican, Haitian, Anglo.
There are more than 5 languages spoken on the street. The kids communicate in English.
They laugh.
There are Italian, Anglo, Polish, Haitian, American Blacks, Jamaicans, people from Trinidad and from various Latin countries.
There are renters and owners living together.
Their children play together.

The children are all laughing and playing together.
The kids pass me and all say hi. They always say hi and I always say hi back. They are nice, respectful and ready to engage any adult in conversation. Sometimes they ask for help with things they can't do themselves. I try when I can.
They are still laughing and playing.
A parent scurries off to a second job.
The street is two way, but usually only one car can really pass at a time. there is parking only on one side. The temperature is in they upper 50's, the sun is shinning strongly, the wind is gentle.
The Forsythia are bright yellow in the garden in front of my house.
The children are still laughing and playing.
The sun has gotten warm. It is peaceful and beautiful. I am tired from a full part time day of work.
This is a Stamford mixed neighborhood!
There are not many left.
This is what this town should be like.

5 comments:

Stamford Talk said...

Sounds like a great 'hood, Joey!
I enjoyed the description. :)

patty said...

My experience in Hubbard Heights wasn't so different, with many languages and ethnicities comingling and living together. I loved that neighborhood.

We left for points north 10 years ago. I love our yard (we thought we were buying it for our dogs... little did we know we had 2 kids on the way in the near future!) but I love being so close to downtown.

Jeannette StG said...

Sounds like you love your neighborhood - a friendly safe place. How lucky you are (I as well):).

Mike Lanza said...

I love the feeling of your piece!

Here's a similar article on my blog, Playborhood.com, about a neighborhood in Darien, CT.

I'm working hard to create the same thing in my neighborhood in the San Francisco Bay Area, and we're getting there!

Unknown said...

Mike Darien, is our neighbor, but they have Money. This neighborhood is filled with mostly blue collar type workers (I do not know if I fit the profile since I work as a chemist)!
Patty - Hubbard Heights is a stones throw from us and feels very similar.
StamfordTalk, the one who started this blogging thing for us all, I hope your new child gets to experience this kind of a neighborhood, I think it is very nourishing!
Jeanette, I am glad you have on of these as well!