THE HOOD

Every morning and afternoon or evening, I take a walk for reasons that are obvious: guilt. Walking is supposed to be good for you, so you do it and I’ll take a nap. I walk around the block once, about 10 minutes time, and if you do that twice a day, that fills the daily minimum requirements for annoyance, according to my doctor. As I walk, I notice things about my neighbors that the early morning dew reveals!

“It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?...”

For instance, there are the garbage days, those days everyone puts out their trashcans the night before, and some of them have the residue of life, peeking out of the can. Such things as old furniture, mattresses (Stained so bad I could tell the original color) and old toys, a sign that the kids are growing up, also seem to tell a story.

“It's a neighborly day in this beauty wood,
A neighborly day for a beauty.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?...”

Then there is recycle day, when on alternate Wednesdays you put out your newspapers and old mail, or bottles and cans. You know what kind of week they had by the number of liquor bottles or dead soldiers are sitting in the red cans. Some tea drinkers live near by, but I try not to talk to them, they give the rest of us a bad name, it’s kind of sobering! But the number of bottles is very revealing, it tells how many children live there, and as the bottles turn to beer cans, how many teenagers live there, usually, a six pack a kid.

“I've always wanted to have a neighbor just like you.
I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you.”

One of the things I love to do in my walks is look at the different lawns and landscaping. In my neighborhood, there is a big reliance on big colored blocks. It makes people feel good to build these little walls of block and then put in flowers and shrubs. I think the block was originally created as a retainer wall for mounds of dirt, but some of my neighbors use them as roofless blockhouses for look. One neighbor built what I call Fort McHenry. Grey block, about 5 high in front of the house, encircling flowers, and little American flags dotted around the perimeter of the wall! I can’t figure out why.

“So, let's make the most of this beautiful day.
Since we're together we might as well say:
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
Won't you please,
Won't you please?
Please won't you be my neighbor?”

I miss Mr. Rogers, he wrote a great song, my niece Laurie Ann and I grew up on that song!

Won't You Be My Neighbor
By Fred M. Rogers
© 1967