My 'Hood

As we travel through life's stages, it's natural to take stock, and strategize about the next moves. When the Ds were little, it was all about which 'hood had the best public schools, as Wifey and I are both strong proponents of them knowing not everyone's parents are professionals... Next we got caught up, briefly, in the agonizing over where they'd go to college. That was easy for us, mercifully, as I gave the Ds a choice: go to a private and expensive school and live like I did in college --spartanly -- or go to the free state U and live like a queen. They both chose Door number 2, though as we all learn, there's no free lunch. D1 is promised a grand wedding someday, and D2 is eying an expensive private graduate school... So lately, as empty nesters, the talk has been about downsizing. Wifey and I both love Miami, and don't dream of living elsewhere, but we talk about maybe moving to a condo in the Grove, or a small house in the Gables. But then, this am, I took another walk in my neighborhood, with the dog of unknown breed who we call the sausage. Her stubby legs and even stubbier body move quite effectively, and we did the 1.1 mile circle at a healthy pace. We only passed one neighbor -- the fellow we all call the asshole. We call him this because he's the only one out of 84 houses who refuses to pay the $150 yearly voluntary dues to keep up the entrances, pay for the entrance lights, and have a yearly party...He was walking his pretty dog -- a Sheltie -- and the great news is his house is for sale, so presumably we'll replace him with someone who thinks paying fair share is the way to go in life. But enough about the asshole... It's tree trimming season, so as the sausage dog and I walked, we admired the new vistas and unique architecture of the houses. When the original owner of the estate that is now my 'hood subdivided and sold, he was careful to sell only to individuals -- no developers -- and the result is an array of architecture ranging from Mediterranean (like our house) to ultra modern 80s "Miami Vice" to classic late 50s ranch style, to the old Tudor style of the remaining 1923 house. The newest house was finished last year, and it's a Key West style huge place but built on a curve that follows the lot, so that it blends in beautifully. The smallest house is a Colonial Williamsburgh reproduction, whose landscaping has just been beautifully done by the new Sub Continent owners... Since I grew up in the Levittown area -- the birthplace of the cookie cutter house -- I have always disliked that style. Wifey agrees -- being a product of the Canarsie row homes that also all looked alike. When we bought our first house, we chose an impractical quirky 1400 square foot place, with no garage, over a similar priced townhome that would have been more practical -- but we joked that the development -- where our friends Mike and Loni moved -- might cause me to come into the wrong place at night for the sameness of all the residences... My 'hood is gloriously walkable. It's a tropical hammock. One say I may see peafowl -- another day wild foxes -- and always an array of lazy, unafraid of dog - cats -- lounging on driveways and on porches. The Ds love the place, too. It represents security -- the true shelter from the storms of life. It's funny -- my mother moved to a Delray condo in 1979 and lived there for 33 years -- and yet it never felt like home at all to me. She loved it -- first her sisters lived there, and then an array of friends -- and she appreciated how easy it was to maintain. But the place was a concrete block in an enormous parking lot -- and to this very day when I visit I get an uneasy feeling there --essentially the opposite feeling I get in my house. And tonight we open it, again, to friends. D1 and I will tend bar, and Canton will deliver the party food as they have for parties Wifey and I have thrown since the mid 80s (though now sushi is part of the deal, too). I'll throw open the doors, and music will play, and folks we adore will gather. No -- I don't see leaving this house anytime soon -- if ever.