Daily Diary, Day 1040: Every day a little more progress on filling the front yard with rocks, but theoretically, (at this point I will believe it when it happens) the last load of rocks will be delivered tomorrow, along with the infill for the planter, and maybe even the material to replace the damaged stone on the exterior. If this happens, they may actually be able to finish up tomorrow.
I also got a little over 500 words written on the next scene yesterday, although I probably won't get any written today because I have some writing for another project I would like to finish this afternoon, having completed my usual Thursday zoom meeting.
I did get my walk in this morning, and this prompted a response to a substack I follow and recommend, called Growing Old-Owning the Real World, where the author talked about her rambles around her rural countryside in England and asked others to describe their own neighborhoods. I thought you might all be interested in what I wrote, so I tweaked my comment and plopped it in here.
Most of my life I have lived in US suburbia, first as a child in a suburb in Pittsburgh, PA that had been a farm before WWII, but by the 1950s had transformed into a middle class suburb. Then, with the exception of seven years living in the small Ohio town where I went to college, I have lived in one suburb after another, in San Diego, Albuquerque NM, Lubbock Texas, and then back to San Diego, where we have been living for over 30 years in the same San Diego neighborhood called University City (located near University of California, San Diego (where I had gone to get my PhD, and where my husband spent the bulk of his career as a librarian.)
While I do tend to idolize those years in the small college town, and we thought about "retiring," to a similar town, the truth is that living in a paid-for house, in one of the loveliest climates left in the US, means there really is no motivation for us to move.
However, I will say that one of the gifts of Covid was that it got me (and tons of others) out and walking in the neighborhood, and this has really increased my enjoyment and appreciation for the place I live.
The neighborhood, primarily built with single detached homes, with a scattering of apartment buildings, duplexes and over 55 communities, was built a little over 50 years ago, and it has stayed quite stable over the years. Even thought there are a limited number of models used (only three different models on our street) over the years people have remodeled, often going up a story or punching out the back, so it isn't as obvious anymore how few basic models of seventies architecture is there. In addition, most of the home owners are people who have had the resources to spend money on their yards, with an amazing number shifting to drought resistant lawns but also a dazzling array of plants. This had given me so much to look at when I walk-and photos to share on my daily posts.
Yet, despite the suburban feel, two canyons wind through the neighborhood, and since we live above one of them, we get to experience some real wild-life. For example, in addition to the squirrel that has started to visit our bird-feeder, this morning my husband encountered a coyote on his first walk--not an infrequent occurrence, and we saw a skunk and an opossum in our back yard this week. We have also encountered raccoons, especially on trash days!
In addition to the wild life, on my walks I also am reminded that this is a community that is continually going through a healthy life cycle and is becoming increasingly diverse. On any walk I can run into residents who are original owners (which means the have lived here 50 years), or notice the signs on a yard congratulating a graduating high school senior who I remember as a toddler, or see one of those toddlers from when we first moved here driving up to visit their parents with their own toddlers. And yes there is an occasional "party house," because we live near the university, and some rentals where the paint is peeling, but overall there is a constant sense of renewal, with remodels, repainting, replanting going on and new families of every possible ethnicity moving in all the time.
In short, I think my walks over the past 3 years have really helped me fall in love with my suburban neighborhood (smile.)
Oh, and we have rabbits, because here is one I encountered on my walk this morning!
It all brought a smile to my face....but the rascally rabbit was the topper! Fun walk down my own memory lane....thank you.
I loved this post, dear sister! I sure hope you are planning to write your autobiography!! I can't wait to read it. Love reading about your life.