Bestest Friend and I are doing a blog project. Each day we will write a post on a pre-determined theme chosen by a random noun generator. The theme for the ninth day of the month is "Location."
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As you might know, Hannah and I do regular walks in the morning, afternoon, and evening. I am entirely at the whims of the dog and what she wants to smell. We can essentially go in three directions from our driveway (left, right, straight) and while I have a preference for turning right, Hannah does not seem to share my preference and since it is, after all, the only time she gets to leave the house, I let her do what she wants to do.
This is how I know that there are two homes that still have fully-lit Christmas trees up in the half-mile radius around our house. I know that there are two houses that have these silly signs of dogs squatting with NO in bold letters above them. I know that the half-million dollar house that is up for sale across the street has had showings at lunchtime for the last two days. I know that the middle school kids still love flaming hot Cheetos based on the insane number of packages I see for them all over.
I also know that the giant family that lives down the street has recently suffered some sort of loss. I know that the old man in the wheelchair had to be moved out of his home and now his relatives are gutting the house. I know that the red house had "wildlife removal" vans in front of their house for two days running and when the workers came out of the house they were wearing full astronaut suits. I know that the pothole on Bluff literally took someone's hubcap. I know who shovels, who sidewalk chalks, and who grills dinner in the garage when the snow falls.
What do you know about your neighborhood?
I walk my neighborhood, too, and get my miles in. Like you, I like to notice the small things and changes that go on. I also like to observe the change of seasons reflected in my route. Meeting the dogs in the neighborhood is always fun, and now I take along biscuits in my pocket in case I run into any.
ReplyDeleteI used to love seeing dogs on my walk. Now that I have a dog of my own, I spend most of my walk time trying to figure out how to avoid running into other dogs!
DeleteYes, dog owners know what's going on in the hood! If it wasn't for the dog I would have no way of knowing how late people leave Christmas decorations up and would miss out on a lot of the great sidewalk art that we have. I always let the dog chose the route, like you say it's her only time out of the house so it seems like she should be in charge of navigation.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one who lets the dog lead the walks. Sometimes I feel like she takes advantage of my patience with her, but I do think she should be able to spend the time outside how she wants to!
DeleteHa ha, those houses still have their Christmas trees up??? I wonder if they're competing with each other for the record.
ReplyDeleteI remember one Halloween trick or treating with my daughter, her friend, and the other girl's father. I was astonished that he seemed to know EVERYONE in the neighborhood, and when I mentioned it he said "Oh, I walk my dog every day." Reading your post makes me realize how disconnected I've gotten from my neighborhood- I should start taking more walks!
They have their trees up and they are lit up every night. It's crazy. When will they take them down?! Or will they leave them up all year long?
DeleteYes, I have always been a big walker and I'm sort of nosy, so I know a lot about the neighborhood. Probably more than I should!
I love this. While I am mostly so lost in thought while I walk around my neighborhood, there are a few things I've noticed. Too much for a comment, so I think I'm going to steal your post idea and write my own.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read your neighborhood observations!
DeleteI have gotten to know our neighborhood well by taking stroller walks with the kids. I do not know nearly as much about our neighborhood as you do, though! I must be lost in thought when I walk! I have gotten to know some of the dogs on our street and I know who has the best Christmas decorations. There is one house that always had an inflatable dinosaur at Halloween and Christmas but did not put it up the last year or 2. It was a highlight of our walks so Paul is very disappointed that it has disappeared. I know the house hasn't been sold because we drive by it every day and I keep an eye on listings in our neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteOf course the highlight of our walks is the house with the 2 geese that have costumes that change with the season! One of these days I will leave a note for that family to tell them how much their geese delight us!
I do think it's interesting that people with young kids really do know about holiday decorations. Your boys and the geese and Kae's boys and the "spooky guys" really make me think we should put more emphasis on our outdoor decorations!
DeleteI am with Suzanne— totally stealing this post idea. Love it so much. I also let Beatrix go where her nose takes her. It’s really fun to be walked by my dog.
ReplyDeleteI do see a different side of the neighborhood with the dog than I do when I'm on my own, that is for sure.
DeleteWhat an observant portrait of your neighborhood!
ReplyDeleteI know it's creepy, but I love walking around at night and seeing homes lit from within and getting glimpse inside. I mean most people have their curtains drawn, so it's not every house we can peer into, but a good number.
We live between the hospital and the metro, and judging from the plastic id bracelets I find along the sidewalk I know that often people get discharged and don't have anyone to pick them up to take them home. That's always made me a little sad.
I'm really curious about those Wildlife Removal vans!
I also like to peer in the windows of houses at night. I guess it's kind of creepy, but it's like getting a glimpse of other people's every day life.
DeleteI'm super interested in the Wildlife Removal vans. What could they possibly have been there for? Massive bat infestation? Raccoons? What was with the full-body astronaut suit? I need to know!!
I feel like I kind of know everything about my neighbourhood #nosy
ReplyDeleteI just ran into my octogenarian neighbour and his sweet dog, Wolfie #5 (he has had a Wolfie since the 60s, and he just names each subsequent dog Wolfie to keep things straight) (I once wrote a whole post about the Wolfie Empire), and I found out that he hasn't been walking with his friend because his friend's wife has dementia and cannot be left alone. So that's something new that is very sad. On a happier note, we have a new neighbour and he is so nice! He has a snowblower and he's been doing part of our sidewalk, which is just so lovely and neighbourly!
Wolfie #5! Oh, I think it would be so hard to have another Hannah - wouldn't it get confusing?
DeleteTeam #nosy here, too, obviously. I have no shame. I feel like it is my civic duty to make my rounds and check out what's going on around here.
I had to comment on this..Wolfie #5! That cracks me up. That is like guys who call all of their girlfriends "babe" so that they don't have to keep track of their names!
DeleteI am fascinated (and creeped out) by the part about the wildlife removal vans! I'm not at all sure I want to know the story behind that.
ReplyDeleteI don't have a dog to walk, and while I do go for walks sometimes, I live in an area of condos and not houses anyway, so there's less personalization to note. I do watch the dog-walkers going by us, there are a lot and I'm sure they know much more about the area than I do.
It is SHOCKING how much different what I notice with the dog is. For instance, I now know that there's far more scat around than I ever would have known about, where all the other dogs live, and where other dogs mark. Ha! Maybe not exactly the kind of thing you WANT to know.
DeleteThat's fun! My neighborhood seems to hibernate till April! I do know that the next door neighbor missed getting his trash out in time for pick up (so he left his bin out all week). And that corner neighbor drives too fast down the block. But come spring, I'll know much, much more!
ReplyDeleteIf someone leaves their bin out for longer than about 48 hours, I'll happily "help" by moving it down to the end of their driveway. Ha! I'm passive-aggressive like that.
DeleteOh, I enjoyed reading all the intriguing details. If ever there was a crime in your neighborhood, you'd be that one neighbor who could solve it based on all the clues you picked up over the weeks...
ReplyDeleteWell, #nosypeople are true civic heroes!
DeleteI love hearing about the tales of the neighborhood. I run, so I also get around a lot! I usually do it when nobody else is out though (I start around 6 am on the weekends normally) so I don't get a lot of actual humans, but I do see their yards and can make up stories about that! I also spent much of the pandemic lock down trying to go down every street in one section of my neighborhood and that was so fun! I found stairs and cul-de-sacs and fun decorations etc. all over the place. Oh, and shortcuts through places I did not know were allowed (like on the property of a Mormon church).
ReplyDeleteOoooohhhh...I am really limited by about a half-mile radius because my dog is easily tired/lazy, but I feel like I know that circle pretty well. But I don't know any secret shortcuts. I'll have to be more brave about getting off the sidewalk.
DeleteYou are in deep in your community and I love that!
ReplyDeleteI know my neighbors grandkids love playing outside most days and I enjoy hearing them holler and play away like kids should.
I love this! I don't know much about my neighborhood. Even when I had a dog, I felt like I wasn't super friendly, lol, because Dutch didn't really like people and since he was blind/deaf, having dogs or people run up to him was scary for him. :(
ReplyDeleteI go on walks nearly every day but I don't really talk to anyone! Last weekend, I was leaving a friend's house and she was pointing out all of the houses in her cul-de-sac and telling me about them. "His daughter just started college." "This guy had a Russian lover for a while but then they broke up." LOL.
This is what I miss about having a dog. Sigh. Right now, I could probably do (Apartment) Complex Observations, though - I see some interesting things on my evening circuit around the building. (I do this so that I am sure I leave my apartment at least once/day...sad...)
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