On the Ride.

It's been a good week since I've ventured out of the neighborhood on my two wheels. Tonight I covered all the usual pavement.

I paid particular attention to smells tonight. I breathed in honeysuckle as I passed through my neighborhood entrance, only to be greeted by the smell of summer grilling on Main Street. Later, as I would wrap back around on my way home, that grilling smell made way to the similar, but slightly varied, bonfire smell, as if to symbolize the fast-approaching presence of autumn in the valley. "Smell" has always been a weird sense to me- how it has the ability to capture a memory, or lure us further into something. Or further away.

As I passed by the old homes on the backstreets, I noticed the height of each home's fencing. Compared to the newer homes in town, the fences of these older homes were shorter, evoking what I felt was a truer sense of community. These days, it's as though we want to keep ourselves gaurded inside our homes. Porches have moved from the front of the house to the back, and fences have been raised higher, blocking out noise, people, etc. It shows how much more willing people were back in the 1700/1800s (yes, these homes go back that far) to welcome others into their homelives. I appreciate this so much and am saddened to think we've become so comfortable with the Tim Taylor/Wilson neighbor interaction. If I ever fence my yard, it will be short. And you can come sit on my front porch and shoot the breeze any day! But no creepers, please.

I also got enjoyment out of the people I saw tonight. There was an old man sitting on his front porch (old home) doing nothing but smiling. He wasn't looking at anything in particular- he just remained fixed in a closed-mouth grin. All the firefighters were sitting outside the firehouse, laughing and enjoying each other's company. I saw an old classmate skateboarding and rode down to the school campus and watched the varsity girl's soccer play in a scrimmage. As a team alumnae, that was thrilling for a few minutes. There were a lot of families out tonight too- most riding bikes actually. And, I saw a kid rollerblading, which immediately made me consider initiating a trade- my bike for his skates.

Anyway, it never ceases to be a refreshing evening in Middletown.