It's the end of an era.
Well...maybe not an era but it is the end of my vacation. I've been off work for the past 11 days. This is one of the best vacations I've ever had. Becki was off with me for the first 9 days. We had 9 days of blissful inactivity :)
Lately I've been involved in a blog about my old neighborhood. While it's ben great to share all of the memories and reconnect with some old friends, it has had one slightly sad side effect. I decided to take a drive through the part of my old neighborhood I lived in. I haven't been through there in a few months. Wow. What a difference, a sad, surprising difference.
My old house is overgrown with weeds. The house itself isn't too bad off. It could probably use a new roof and gutters soon but the paint is OK and the windows are intact. The rock retaining wall in front is starting to crumble. That wall was the gathering spot for us kids. We always used to meet up in front of my house. The spot I always used to sit in is the worst part of the wall. The top row of stones has fallen onto the steps. There is an old toilet sitting on the grass by the curb. The house looks vacant but not for sale.
Right up the street is the old neighborhood bar. The original owner sold it many years ago. It had reopened as a Mexican/Chinese restaurant but even that has been closed for a couple of years. Now, that parking lot has become a dumping ground. There were piles of crap and ripped open bags strewn across the back of the building. All of my friend's old houses are either overgrown, bulldozed, or covered in gang graffiti. A few of the people from my childhood still live there. Their houses are still in great shape for the most part.
I have such good memories from there. We drove around and I told stories that each spot reminded me of. Some good, some not so good. My sister showed the spot where she and her friends discovered a dead body. I told stories of families that used to live in the vacant lots we encountered. We also got to talk about a lot of the funny/crazy stuff we did as kids. Sure, we had a lot of bad stuff happen there. Lots of arson, petty crime, fights & vandalism. Maybe it's nostalgia but I can't help but look back at my childhood fondly.
Lately I've been involved in a blog about my old neighborhood. While it's ben great to share all of the memories and reconnect with some old friends, it has had one slightly sad side effect. I decided to take a drive through the part of my old neighborhood I lived in. I haven't been through there in a few months. Wow. What a difference, a sad, surprising difference.
My old house is overgrown with weeds. The house itself isn't too bad off. It could probably use a new roof and gutters soon but the paint is OK and the windows are intact. The rock retaining wall in front is starting to crumble. That wall was the gathering spot for us kids. We always used to meet up in front of my house. The spot I always used to sit in is the worst part of the wall. The top row of stones has fallen onto the steps. There is an old toilet sitting on the grass by the curb. The house looks vacant but not for sale.
Right up the street is the old neighborhood bar. The original owner sold it many years ago. It had reopened as a Mexican/Chinese restaurant but even that has been closed for a couple of years. Now, that parking lot has become a dumping ground. There were piles of crap and ripped open bags strewn across the back of the building. All of my friend's old houses are either overgrown, bulldozed, or covered in gang graffiti. A few of the people from my childhood still live there. Their houses are still in great shape for the most part.
I have such good memories from there. We drove around and I told stories that each spot reminded me of. Some good, some not so good. My sister showed the spot where she and her friends discovered a dead body. I told stories of families that used to live in the vacant lots we encountered. We also got to talk about a lot of the funny/crazy stuff we did as kids. Sure, we had a lot of bad stuff happen there. Lots of arson, petty crime, fights & vandalism. Maybe it's nostalgia but I can't help but look back at my childhood fondly.