To my faithful followers, I need to apologize. I have been away on vacation, so I have not been walking in Mason City this last week. To compound the problem, the batteries in my camera died a few weeks ago, and so I did not post for several walks while I dithered about creative ways to present those neighborhoods without pictures. Being out of excuses, I will simply share my impressions from 4 walks in this post.
Neighborhood Number 12:
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My partner and I walked the neighborhood West of Roosevelt school. We zig-zagged back and forth between Federal and Pennsylvania. These were busy streets with older homes. I got the sense that many of these homes had seen better days. Many of them had tired paint, and scruffy yards. There was not a lot yard decorations, welcome signs, or seasonal banners on the homes here.
Also, I noticed two different homes which had trees and bushes growing right up to the front door. One of them was landscaped to make the house disappear. There was an archway and a path that led back through dense shrubs and plants to a door. The other house, was simply grown over, a huge evergreen bush completely engulfing the front step. I asked my walking partner what she thought it meant, that the entrances to these homes were hidden and overgrown. She shrugged her shoulders and said: "I don't know." I continue to wonder.
Area 13:
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This walk took us into a new area of Mason City. These streets were all residential. There were many large and unique homes here. I saw a lot more ranch style architecture here. This was also a busy neighborhood. There were people working and playing outside throughout our walk. We also started to see Halloween decorations. One yard had three or four large, inflatable Halloween monsters behind its 8-foot privacy fence. I got excited imagining walking past on a spooky October evening. Maybe I will have to take a stroll here on another night.
The 14th Dimension:
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Bugs! For some reason, the air was simply hazy with flies, gnats and mosquitos during this walk. The weather was hot and dry, and eating bugs was rather unpleasant. We also encountered dogs and small children on this walk, making Buc a nervous wreck. I was ready to leave as soon as we arrived. I also have to say that this is not the most personable neighborhood I have walked. The people who were out avoided eye contact or were hurrying out to cars and in to homes. Maybe they didn't like the heat or the bugs either.
My walking partner was surprised to discover that the little cul-de-sac off South Illinois Ave was directly behind her house. She thought it strange that there was simply a field and railroad tracks between her house and these houses. One of the truly wonderful things about walking the city has been this way of seeing it from a different view. Mostly, we see houses and streets through the windows of our cars, and only in the context of how they are positioned relative to our destinations. When we take the time to simply see a place for what it is, we get an opportunity to discover new neighbors and different relationships between one space and the next.
The Final 15:
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We decided to walk through Frederick Hanford Park next. For our part, Buc and I were ready for a little bit of Iowa wild. We discovered a Free Methodist Church, a school, and some abandoned storefronts back in this corner of Mason City. The park was a huge open space with ball diamonds and great grass for playing soccer or football. The houses here were mostly small and box shaped. The streets had a ton of traffic, which seemed surprising as there were not many people out walking, working in their yards or playing in the park. Walking through the park, we did get to see the back sides of the houses on Monroe Ct. More than one had a hot tub out on the patio. This would be a pretty and peaceful setting on a breezy autumn evening. Like many places in Mason City, this neighborhood is just off the main track. 19th St. SW is just north of here, and Federal is just to the East. Maybe that was why this was such a busy area in terms of traffic.
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