Walking Around the Neighborhood

Some years back, I read an article about a woman who took photographs of her hometown at sunrise every day for a year. I found that inspiring. Perhaps it helped me to look at my own daily walks around the neighborhood with new eyes.

So here is today's walk from the view of the "Sidewalk Garden tour" of my neighborhood in Mt. Ephraim. First let me set the parameters of my neighborhood. On the East is Kings Highway. My town spreads to the eastern side of Kings Highway but I am on the western side. To the South of my neighborhood is Market Street which tuns wetward to Route 130. On the West of my neighborhood is Northmont Avenue. There are streets westward of that but that isn't in my range, which is the daily 2 mile walk I take with my dog Uma.

To the North of my neighborhood is the Railroad and I believe the street on my side of the railroad is called Station Avenue. It has the Mary Bray School on the corner of Kings and Station, then the next landmark would be the Doughtery Senior Center, which is where i have my Senior Group first Monday of each month, and also where I deposit my doggie bags after I scoop behind Uma.

We start out on Hartka, because another dog walker friend of mine was recently attacked by two frustrated and angry yard dogs as she walked down the street. They knocked her to the ground and caused a crushed hip, broken femur, broken clavicle which almost hit her heart. Needless to say, Uma and I stay clear of that end of our street nowadays! The dogs are still there.

So the azaleas, sadly are almost finished. My neighborhood tends towards deep pink although one neighbor, Mark, who has a notable flower garden border, has a lovely pale purple azalea and two lovely white flowering trees. I am not up on my trees so I don't know what these trees are, the blossoms are four petal, open and about 2 1/2 inches across.

On all the lawns, I really enjoy the confetti sprinkle of tiny blue and yellow blossoms, which are the size of small shirt buttons and seem to me to be joyful. Always, I have been likewise fond of greeting the little arctic whites (that's what I call them - I don't know their real names. I should find out. Some yards on Hartka also have tiny purple cluster flowers in their lawns; one yard has remarkable deep purple, almost black tulips! >p/> The stars of the show, however, are the pink blossom trees along the railroad, maybe they are cherry blossom trees? There are about 50 or 60 of them all in a row, but they are now bare. Their pastel pink petals lie in puddles of color in the gutters along the street where they were blown by the windy weather we had last week. It is glorious when all those trees are in bloom at the same time.

Some notable yards are on the street behind mine where one clever and creative neighbor has broken free from the green lawn straitjacket of common yards adn has put in a "hardscape" rock garden which has a number of plants that do different things in different seasons.

My own yard is noteworthy because I have a wooded landscape, no lawn either. My frotn yard is graced with half a dozen old trees that were here when I moved in and to which I have added about ten or twelve hollies and other shrubs, especially forsythia, those early announcements that the sun is about to return. Today I was thinking how easy it is to understand th Egyptians worshiping the Sun God RA. The sun is the engine that runs the whole planet along with the water.

My neighbor across the street, Mike Hughes, has the BEST rhododendrun I have ever see outside a fancy formal garden park like Longwood Gardens. It is a story tall and so profuse with flowers when it blooms that I have to stand and stare.

Not one to settle for 'sight' I also have spreading patches of Lily of the Valley which provide a FRAGRANT path to my porch. I cans smell them when I get out of the car even. I also have Rose of Sharon, Day Lilies, and a Heliobore a gift from a certified gardener friend of mine who also gave me the Lily of the Valley, three in a small pot which have flourished in my yard. There are also irus which I moved from the front where they lived until I moved in and the trees and shrubs crowded them out of the sunlight. Now I have a round pond of them just beyond my stone patio.

Each season provides its own interesting display on my daily walk but spring is definitely the time to notice plants. Halloween it is decorations that catch the eye and naturally, at Christmas, it is lights. In summer I mostly long for and seek shade patches as I am not fond of the heat or too much sun, so that is the season I mourn the loss of the trees. For some years now, I have winced when I heard the unmistakeable grind of the tree cutters and I have shed a tear or two at the sight of the stumps, like tombstones, where trees and shade used to live.

What is that old song "You'll find your happiness lies, in front of your eyes right in your own backyard." Too True! I am grateful for my dog who gets me out every day whether I want to or not, because once I get out, I am so glad to be there in the sun and under the blue sky and in the company of the trees and flowers.

Happy Trails - Jo Ann wrightj45@yahoo.com