We Live Where

We live where summer is a series of beautiful blue cloudless days that go on and on. Today the temp has already reached 80 degrees by 8am. It will be hot enough that the flowers will need a squirt morning AND night, hot enough for friends to stop by for pool time, hot enough for the a/c to run past midnight before we are able to welcome the fresh and cool outside air.

We live where the quiet is broken by an occasional dog barking or someone building a fence. We live on the quietest busy street in the city, a main thoroughfare where the ambulances rushing to and from the hospital turn off their sirens unless it is super urgent, and when we hear it we know to say a prayer of safekeeping.

We live where people wave to each other and know each other's faces in the grocery stores and restaurants. This quiet town has held onto its character which is mighty hard to do when big stuff like Costco and Home Depot and Best Buy moves in. We still shop the True Value with its two checkout registers and across at the little bike shop.  Main Street flies American flags and hangs baskets of flowers in front of the bowling alley and vintage movie theatre where you can still see a first-run movie for $5. There's a sock shop and a couple of great restaurants, a few novelty shops and even some car dealerships.

We live where neighbors play Tripoley and watch each other's houses when they are away. We talk over the backyard fences and know the names of each other's children and pets. Teens greet adults as they pass them on the street and you hardly ever see graffiti. It's the best bargain going, this little town of ours.