View From My Front Porch

View From My Front Porch
   From my rocking chair I look west, north and south at a church, a rehabilitation facility, and twelve houses of my neighbors. I live in a nice neighborhood with concerned neighbors who mostly keep their properties very well kept. There are two of these dozen houses needing attention.
   Looking south/west I see the home of an elderly women who has recently moved into an assisted living facility while her house has taken on an unkept, overgrown image. I'm sure the family who comes regularly to pick up the mail sees the decline but, while trying to keep costs in check, they don't take into consideration the dragging down of the quality of the neighborhood. A block is only as good as the worst house on that block.
   Looking north/west up the street I see a house under stress needing help. For years now their three step, prefabricated, concrete entrance way has eroded away so now there is no second step but only loose, crumbled stones and concrete pieces. Above these eroded steps up over the doorway is about a twelve foot piece of raw, unpainted wood filling in a gap left where a decorative glass window once was. This enclosed front porch seems to have been in a stage of being painted but never finished. Out at the curb sits a vehicle which hasn't moved for many a month and may, if not probably, not have a current inspection let alone a current license.
   Again, a block is only as good as the worst house on that block. I suggest trying to survey your own block so you too can give credit where it's due, and criticism where it's warranted.

Ronald C. Downie