Won't You Be My Neighbor?
We've been trying to make sure we get at least 20 minutes of good walk time in with Fenway everyday. Now that he doesn't have a broken leg, stitches or a cold he has much more energy and we've got to burn it off! With the weather cooperating I've been doing most of the walks around our neighborhood after work.
A little background: We moved to our house in an "old" part of Dallas last May and love being inside the 635 loop close to restaurants, friends, NorthPark, Greenville, and fun things to do. But our neighborhood is very old; It was built back in the 20s and 30s. There are beautiful old trees lining the streets that are hard to find in new neighborhoods. And there are still lots of old houses.
There are a few different types of house in the neighborhood. The houses that were originally built with brick have held up pretty well, especially if their owners work to keep them up. Many of these smaller, brick houses have been added on to through the years, but they've kept their original charm. There are new homes that were built on old lots where the houses were too bad to be saved. And there are the old ones like those on our street that were mostly built with wood in the craftsman style. The craftsman houses that have been fixed up have beautiful wrap around porches and fancy front doors. The ones that haven't been fixed up are falling down - literally. We have at least four such houses on our street.
Taking Fenway on a walk down our street is always an adventure. You get the little kids in their DISD uniforms playing in the street and yelling "Can I pet your dog?" over and over again. You get the next door neighbors hanging out on their front porch listening to texana music blaring from their cars in the driveway. And you get the cute little toddler who hangs out with his nanny in his front yard waiting for his parents to get home. Interesting mix, huh?
I have now been propositioned twice on my last few walks. Last Friday, a man stopped and asked me if I lived in a house. "Well, yes, I do." "Do you have wood floors?" he asks. "No, but that would be nice" I reply. He proceeds to tell me that he does wood floors, lives in this house right here, (the one that's of course falling down, has those icicle Christmas lights hanging off of it year round and hasn't been mowed all summer) but is out of business cards because he gave them all to the builder he's been working for in Allan. He's holding a Bud Light bottle, but he assures me it's not his. He was just picking it up out of the yard. Interesting, but I don't need my floors done right now. If I ever change my mind I can find his mom and his sister home at the house all day. I'll keep that in mind.
I was trying to walk Fenway quickly on Wednesday so I'd be home in time to watch the start of the World Series. But as we're leaving the house two young girls with a baby and a coat stop me. "Excuse me, but do you have a boyfriend or a dad who would want to buy this nice, new coat?" It's a huge brown Abercrombie coat with fur lining. And it's probably fairly new because it still had one tag hanging off of it on the inside. The one that tells you it's an Abercrombie original. She says she's sure it's a $200 coat but would be willing to sell it for $100. As much as Brian would love to have a semi-new coat I bought off the neighborhood street, I gracefully declined, thinking she'd probably have better luck on eBay.
Hmmm, I wonder what I'll be offered today.
Funny though, once we get off of our street the walk is pretty uneventful, and we love our neighborhood anyway.
A little background: We moved to our house in an "old" part of Dallas last May and love being inside the 635 loop close to restaurants, friends, NorthPark, Greenville, and fun things to do. But our neighborhood is very old; It was built back in the 20s and 30s. There are beautiful old trees lining the streets that are hard to find in new neighborhoods. And there are still lots of old houses.
There are a few different types of house in the neighborhood. The houses that were originally built with brick have held up pretty well, especially if their owners work to keep them up. Many of these smaller, brick houses have been added on to through the years, but they've kept their original charm. There are new homes that were built on old lots where the houses were too bad to be saved. And there are the old ones like those on our street that were mostly built with wood in the craftsman style. The craftsman houses that have been fixed up have beautiful wrap around porches and fancy front doors. The ones that haven't been fixed up are falling down - literally. We have at least four such houses on our street.
Taking Fenway on a walk down our street is always an adventure. You get the little kids in their DISD uniforms playing in the street and yelling "Can I pet your dog?" over and over again. You get the next door neighbors hanging out on their front porch listening to texana music blaring from their cars in the driveway. And you get the cute little toddler who hangs out with his nanny in his front yard waiting for his parents to get home. Interesting mix, huh?
I have now been propositioned twice on my last few walks. Last Friday, a man stopped and asked me if I lived in a house. "Well, yes, I do." "Do you have wood floors?" he asks. "No, but that would be nice" I reply. He proceeds to tell me that he does wood floors, lives in this house right here, (the one that's of course falling down, has those icicle Christmas lights hanging off of it year round and hasn't been mowed all summer) but is out of business cards because he gave them all to the builder he's been working for in Allan. He's holding a Bud Light bottle, but he assures me it's not his. He was just picking it up out of the yard. Interesting, but I don't need my floors done right now. If I ever change my mind I can find his mom and his sister home at the house all day. I'll keep that in mind.
I was trying to walk Fenway quickly on Wednesday so I'd be home in time to watch the start of the World Series. But as we're leaving the house two young girls with a baby and a coat stop me. "Excuse me, but do you have a boyfriend or a dad who would want to buy this nice, new coat?" It's a huge brown Abercrombie coat with fur lining. And it's probably fairly new because it still had one tag hanging off of it on the inside. The one that tells you it's an Abercrombie original. She says she's sure it's a $200 coat but would be willing to sell it for $100. As much as Brian would love to have a semi-new coat I bought off the neighborhood street, I gracefully declined, thinking she'd probably have better luck on eBay.
Hmmm, I wonder what I'll be offered today.
Funny though, once we get off of our street the walk is pretty uneventful, and we love our neighborhood anyway.
Labels: Musings
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