city life

Growing up in the country in a little town in northern Minnesota, the most activity we saw from our yard growing up was the occasional car (whose driver may have been imbibing alcohol) miss the gentle curve in the road by our house and end up in the field. I know they weren't talking on their cell phone, or texting, as we didn't have cell phones yet. Maybe they were just awed by all the beauty of the countryside, and forget to pay attention to the road.

Living in St. Paul, on the corner of a relatively busy street, and across from a high school to boot, is a whole different story. I have gotten used to the sound of sirens on a regular basis, the garbage truck that is in the school parking lot every morning at 5 am BANGING those giant cans as LOUD as they can to get every last piece of trash out of them. The sound of the jets as they head off to Europe, or Tokyo, or Cleveland. The really loud ones make the pictures dance on the walls.

But there is a certain rhythm to city life, that I am sure I would miss if I moved away from it. There is always something going on, whether it is softball season, or football season, or the neighbors running their dogs in the field (the one with the big signs posted that say"NO DOGS allowed on Field"). Perhaps they have special dispensation....

The antics of the high schoolers can be annoying, frustrating, but often amusing. Exhibit A:

Several giggling girls spent nearly an hour "decorating" this young man's car for his birthday. I was impressed with the cleverness (you can't really tell by the picture, but every single note had something written on it!) I wondered how they snuck out of class, did they get a teacher's permission? I felt kind of bad for the kid when school was out, he spent quite a bit of time trying to get everything removed before he drove away. After he drove away, I no longer had sympathy, as there are still post it notes littering the side of the road-clearly he didn't take his task too seriously.

We have seen car fires, puking adolescent drinkers, love trysts in the field, you name it, it has probably happened on our corner in the 16 years we have lived here. I wonder what they will think of next! You can be sure I will let my readers know. And I have to say that I appreciate the fact that working from home is rarely dull.