To much sky

It’s changed, this neighborhood of mine.  Gone are the tall Doug Firs which used to blot out the sky.  Gone to the windstorms of November and the chainsaws of urban foresters.

Replaced now by flowering cherry, dogwoods and flowering plums, people friendly trees, which have replaced the always green,  with pink, white and yellows.

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

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

Gone also, are the couple on the other side, who often proved that “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors.”

The family that lived directly across the street has moved on.  I saw their children grow from tots, who rode their 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 my fence, replaced now by a view of his camper, covered most of the year with a blue tarp.

It’s changed this neighborhood of mine.  And the new neighbors who have moved in are often of two types, young and old.

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

The older ones bring a sense of finality as though they’ve settled in and aren’t leaving.  They dig up the old lawns composed primarily of old grass and dandelions, and replace them with new grass, dark green and sweet smelling.  They plant roses and rhodies 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’s missing, I think of what’s here, and I think, It’s a pretty good neighborhood, even if there is to much sky.

(This was written in 1995 and has been read on KGY’s Ken’s Corner more than once.)