Hanging in the hood, or, chatting with neighbors

Today is a beautiful day in the Twin Cities. The sun is shining, but it's not too hot--there is a nice breeze blowing--it's a perfect summer day (even though technically it's still spring till June 21, I think). Raven and I got a bit of a late start on our walk, so by the time we were out several neighbors were working in their yards.

We chatted with Irene, who is working to restore the boulevard area between the sidewalk and the curb. Every year the county dumps loads of salt and sand on the street to make driving safe when the snow and ice come. Unfortunately, the price to pay for safe travel is dead grass along the boulevard. Irene's yard is particularly long, so she has been working for weeks to get grass and other plants to grow.

As we rounded our way toward home, we stopped at the house of a couple I often see walking--we always wave and make a comment about the weather. Today they were out landscaping, so I stopped for a bit of conversation. Funny how I seem to know them, but I never knew their names--George and Henrietta. I learned that they built their house in 1965 after moving from the Fridley, MN tornado neighborhood. They have one son who lives a couple miles away and has four children who attend a Christian school where many of our friends' children attend. Their yard is looking very nice, and they were planning to plant a tree this morning.

My final visit was with Gordy. He and his wife were out working on the boulevard, too. At my job interview on Monday, one of my soon-to-be bosses asked if I knew Gordy, and I said I lived right around the corner from him. Mark, my boss to be, has known Gordy all his life. Gordy and Mark's father were in the nursery roles together at First Covenant Church in downtown Minneapolis. Gordy has been the church organist there for over 50 years, I think (I don't know if he has finally retired or not!).

It's fun to enjoy a stroll and visit with people. In our hurried society, we don't take much time to get to know those around us. I'm glad I had the chance on this beautiful morning.

Till next time,


Suzi