What neighbourhood do you live in? What neighbourhood would you like to live in? I love my neighbourhood. My neighbourhood is a real, hardcore, suburban neighbourhood. By that what I mean is, I need to drive to buy groceries, I need to drive to the cinema, and I need to drive to go out for dinner. But I can ride my bike on trails in the woods, walk my dog on the TransCanada Trail, or ski on the Rideau Trail in winter. A mere twenty-minute car ride (but not in rush hour) takes me to the downtown core, with all its offerings of urban splendour. I do get the best of both worlds. But what neighbourhoods are really and truly about are its people, its families.
Several winters ago, after an abundant snow fall, I took my pup for a morning walk in the woods. The sun through the trees glistened on the snow-covered branches. The snow was deep and the trails hadn’t been stomped down yet. The going was tough, but it was beautiful, all sunny and white. As my pup and I tromped through the snow enjoying the morning, we rounded a bend to discover that an old tree had fallen across the path. The tree was about 2 feet (or 60 cm) in diameter, clearly blocking the way. But my pup and I managed to scramble across and be on our way.
For our evening walk, well our late afternoon walk, before the setting sun, my pup and I followed the same path as the morning. When we arrived at the bend by the fallen tree, some one had cut a three-foot break through the middle of the log, allowing us, unencumbered to easily pass through the log and stay on the path. There was a fresh spray of saw dust all over the path. My dog, who has a powerful sense of smell, barked. And when I looked in that direction, just rounding another bend further along the path, heading away from us, was the tail end, literally, of a huge Malamute who we knew as Juno. Juno was followed by his owner with a chain saw in tow. And that is one of the reasons why I love my neighbourhood so much.
Tell me about your neighbourhood. Send me a few words about why you love it.
