The Times, They Are A-Changin"

I actually made my walking goal of ~3 miles. The puppy was truly grateful. My legs, not so much. I decided to take the always turn left approach to the walk until I topped N. Westminster St. and the right turn option seemed the best. I walked a well-maintained neighborhood of condominiums. 

I walked up a street with truly spectacular homes. Each one was large, with gorgeous back yards and most of them were unique and eye-catching in some way. Wandering further up the streets, I started to enter an area of new construction. New neighbors. New people moving in. 

 These homes are raw and unformed still. They are waiting to become some kind of new neighborhood. My walk was quiet until I emerged onto N. Scott Blvd. Along N. Scott Blvd., I saw apartments and duplexes.

This walk was a study in how neighborhoods are not uniform. There are many ways of creating living spaces. Sometimes people share walls and pay collectively for yard maintenance and sidewalk snow removal. Sometimes, people invest in architecture and landscaping to create highly personal spaces of retreat, sanctuary, and family gathering.

There was so much construction and new development along my walk, I wonder if there have been growing pains. I can remember the development that happened near my own childhood home-trees yanked out, small farms replaced with tracts of 10 or so small family homes, a small mountain literally leveled to make room for a 747 runway.

These kinds of makeovers can be painful, and it is hard to make room for newcomers or to feel like sharing with people whose homes and lifestyle have replaced the pathways and secret places of childhood.

As I walked, blessing ran through my mind. "May your homes live up to your dreams. May your dreams bless others, and may strangers find ways to become neighbors despite change."

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