Beyond My Doorstep
I live my life on a schedule. Work starts at 6:30 am and ends at 5:30pm. The highlight of my day is my walk with the dogs. It's a chance to get away and into the fresh air.
I walk every night at 5:30 pm with my three dogs, Frankie, Trixie and Jezebel. It's the same route, I don't veer off the beaten path and the dogs lead the way by a trail of common scents.
On my walk I will see the small changes and shifts of my neighborhood. It is a slow moving story of change and time. I watch the natural growth and movement of time with each step.
I wave to Ellie who had a stroke and sits at her dining room table by the window, she waves back, her husband George is occasionally in the room to wave back. Around the corner the dogs on both sides bark and scratch at their fences, we walk the gauntlet of snorts and woofs and the sounds trail off as we pass on. At the top of the hill, I stop and look down at the city, sometimes I can see all the way to Long Beach, sometimes only up to the buildings downtown. The dogs pull on their leashes if they think I am too lost in thought.
Ernest and Nigel wave hello with their dog Max. The dogs sniff and we talk about our love of Costco and the latest deals. I am reassured by the fact that we all have this routine and that we have become friends by just meeting each day, the familiarity is a soothing balm to the time I spend working alone each day.
As we past the Roman villa built in the 1920's, we see Steve Briggs, my 89 year old neighbor. He walks 2 miles each day and he says it's the secret of his longevity. We say hello and I ask him how he is and how his writing is coming along. He turns up his hearing aids and tells me that I will receive a copy of his book soon. We go on our separate paths and say "see you tomorrow!" There was one time that I didn't see him for 3 days, I called to check on him. He was fine, we just were on different schedules that day.
Harry and Susan live on the edge of that city view, Harry will be outside washing Susan's car or fixing his motorcycles, I will stop and say hello. Susan calls Harry's tinkering "Farkle"*. We talk about the feral cats, the recent renovations and about the latest mail box thefts. Susan has a soft touch and a big heart for the wayward cat, and I am sure there is a secret sign that points to her house for lost cats. The dogs pull on their leashes and its off we go again.
Nicky and Jack will be coming down the hill next with their dog Sarah, who my dogs have a thing for. I have them under control and hope for the best, and not for a repeat of barking and snarling from my dogs. All goes well today, hopefully it will be okay tomorrow.
A neighborhood has to be experienced by foot. If you only drive through your neighborhood, you are just skimming the surface and never seeing the richness that only comes from the slow movement of time. A community is built not by the amount of houses in a square block, but by the inhabitants. Take a walk and see what is beyond your doorstep in your neighborhood, how else will you be able to truly call it home?
This is Part One of a series to highlight KCET's participation in a Knight Foundation project titled "Information Needs of Communities in a Democracy."
*Farkle: Wikipedia defines it as:
F.ancy
A.ccessory
R.eally
K.ool &
L.ikely
E.xpensive
Image: Ophelia Chong / Trixie, Jezebel peer down the road
