I got to the end of the day and felt enormously productive. Life has changed and been full of upheaval since mid-January. I'm just starting to find a new community for work (now that I'm an entrepreneur). Thank you to @shadowspub and @alessandrawhite and @andysporring for being a part of that community that helps make each day a little easier to get through. Yet, what has remained the same is my lovely little neighborhood. So, I thought for my first Wednesday Walk post, I'd let you see what the Crossroads of America looks like in early spring.
My faithful companion
I'm joined on tonight's walk - as I am on pretty much every walk - by my faithful companion Kona. Kona is a Miniature Double Doodle which means he's part goldendoodle and part labradoodle.
One week when we do this walk, I'll let him narrate the entire thing.
My Neighborhood
I moved to this part of Indianapolis six year ago. As the crow flies, I moved 1.1 miles. It might as well have been 20 miles. Indianapolis, like many urban cities, has its share of crime issues. My former neighborhood is now a source of arrests almost weekly. This neighborhood is, at least as yet, spared from that trauma.
I live specifically in a small condo community that sits on the edge of a sprawling five sub-community build-out and they are building two more communities as I type this (literally - this time of year - you can hear hammers until well past sunset).
We have a pond. The fountain just got put back in earlier this week as the farmer's almanac says we won't freeze anymore after this weekend 🤞🏼.
The pond is home to a mean pair of Canadian Geese who have their nest on the far side of the pond from where I'm standing in this photo. This is as close as Kona and I get to the pond right now as we typically step across the street to continue our walk.
A few of my neighbors have these lovely bushes (please forgive me as botany is NOT my best subject). Apologies that the photo is a little fuzzy - cell phone cameras and dogs can be a bit of a challenge to manage.
We also have white flowering crabapple trees in abundance. I love the delicate flowers but they make both Kona and I sneeze our heads off all season.
Since we're in a condo community, all of the lawn work, except in the small mulch areas you can see in the photos is done by the community on a very aggressive lawn care and maintenance schedule and protocol. I call this guy...
THE SURVIVOR
We had a family Easter egg hunt this weekend and joked that the kid who drew yellow as their color egg to find had the hardest job since my nephew's yard was full of dandelions. In my neighborhood grass green would be hardest to find.
Communal Space
In condo communities you own nothing and everything. Every greenspace is public space - again except what is staked out by concrete and mulch. We can't fence anything except our patio so Kona has no fenced in yard here - we frequent a local dog park for extended and long range ball playing sessions. That said, in our day to day play time we can play in a variety of large green spaces. This is one of his favorites as several large nests of bunnies live in a set of pine trees just to the right of this photo. (No worries - he's curious of bunnies and has never even tried to chase them. If you're a robin, however - that's a different story.)
Also in a condo community like this one, everyone helps out a little bit. We're on the pool team and have water duties every day. From Memorial Day to Labor Day we check the pools water level first thing each morning and do a quick skim off of debris. During our evening walk we do another water level check and add with a hose if needed. We've had a pool leak for a couple of years now so it's actually important that someone checks on it and adjusts every day or so. During winter months we keep an eye on the pool deck on our walks and make sure nothing moves (strong winds have moved chairs around in the past) or needs re-secured.
I have the most wonderful neighbors. Several are veterans. Everyone is older than me so I have some extra sets of parent and grandparent like folks looking out for me. They joked at the first home owner's association meeting after I moved in that I lowered the average age by two or three years. I also host a once a month technology gathering at our club house and help out with computer and technology related issues. We had our first one last month and it was a nice success.
Thanks for touring our neighborhood with us!
Notes: Photos were taken with a Samsung Galaxy S20 because I honestly forgot to grab a camera and know that the best camera to use is the one you have with you.