This neighborhood of mine

Time has changed this neighborhood of mine.

Gone are the tall Doug Firs which used to block out the sky.  Gone to the windstorms of November and the chain saws of urban foresters.

In their places are the dogwoods, the flowering plum, the cherry, the people friendly trees with their splashes of spring color and their leaves of yellow and red when the storms come.

Gone as well are the two bedroom homes with their one car garages.  Replaced by the need of growing families.   Now, garages have been turned into spare rooms, asphalt driveways go no where, and cars park on the street.

Gone too are those I used to know.  Gone are the blond-haired couple who lived next door with their blond-haired children.  Gone to new neighborhoods to new houses on new cul de sacs with their meandering sidewalks and concrete light posts.

Gone also are the couple on the other side who often proved that “good fences do make good neighbors.”

The family that lived directly across the way has moved on.  I saw their children grow from tots who rode Big Wheels on the street, to teenagers who roared up and down the road.

The man across the back fence is still there, but he has cut down the decades old apple trees which used to hang over the fence.   Now, the only thing that separates my house from his,  is the view of his camper, covered most of the year with a blue tarp.

All of these old neighbors have been replaced, often with two types – – old and young.

The young neighbors bring enthusiasm, energy and young children, who fill the street with laughter and large smiles.

The old ones bring a sense of finality as though they’ve settled in and aren’t leaving.  They dig up the old lawns, composed mostly of dandelions, and replace them with new grass, dark green and smelling sweet.

They plant rhodies and roses and roots, and introduce themselves, and offer to help when they see you outside working on a project that appears too much for one.

It’s changed this neighborhood of mine.

And when I think of what has gone, I think of what has come and I think, “this is a pretty good neighborhood, even it there is too much sky.”