Too much Sky

It’s changed, this neighborhood of mine

Gone are the tall Doug Fires 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 Japanese Maple,

the people friendly trees with their splashes of spring color.

Gone as well are the two-bedroom houses with their one-car garages;

replaced by the needs of growing families.

Now asphalt driveways go nowhere.

Garages have been turned into spare rooms and cars park on the street.

Gone to0 are the blond-haired couple with their blond-haired children

who lived next door.

Gone to new neighborhoods with new houses, on cul de sacs,

with their three-bedroom homes,

whose yards are guarded at night by concrete lamp posts

and little dogs that bark and yip.

Also gone are the neighbors on the other side

who often proved that Good Fences do make Good Neighbors.

The family that lived directly across the street has moved on.

I watched their children grow from tots who rode their Big Wheels on the street

into teenagers who roared up and down the road at all hours of the night.

The man who lived across the back fence is still there,

but he has cut down the decades old apple trees that used to hang over my fence.

Now, the only thing that separates my yard from his

is the view of his camper, covered most of the year by a blue tarp.

But, just like people, neighborhoods change with time.

And just like people, change in a neighborhood isn’t all bad.

New neighbors have moved in now.

They’re of two types – young and old.

The young ones bring enthusiasm, energy and young children,

who again fill the streets with laughter and large smiles.

The older ones bring a sense of finality as though they settling in

and aren’t planning to move again.

They dig up old lawns, composed primarily of old grass and  dandelions,

and replace them with new grass, dark green and smelling sweet.

The plant rhodies and roses and roots.

They introduce themselves when they see you outside working on a project

they deem too much for one.

It’s changed this neighborhood of mine.

When I think of what’s gone, I think of what’s been added and say,

This is a pretty good neighborhood,

Even if there is too much sky.