The Eyes of March

Yesterday the remaining traces of last week's snow storm vanished with the aid of some bright sunshine and  very spring-like temperatures.  What a difference 7 days can make in suburbia. Along with the 72 degree temp,   doors began to open and people came out of their homes.  Yes, after a long winter (I am assuming it is nearly over at this point..just call me an optimist) people are starting to reappear in the neighborhood.

The coming of spring is a mixed bag in suburbia.  Sure it's nice to see our old friend the sun but with it comes a few Battles of Suburbia.  Just in all other types of battles, there are going to be winners and there are going to be losers.

I have spent most of my adult life living in suburbia.  Now I know some of you more urban oriented dwellers are TSK TSKing and saying words like "cookie cutter", "sprawl" and "I'd rather die" and/or  you country dwellers are saying phrases like "living on top of each other" and " no elbow room" and "I'd rather die".  Sure...I see your point.  We have lived in urban areas,  rural areas, big cities and small towns  but about the time our Kiddo #1 came into the world we decided that suburbia fit our family's needs.

Soooo...After having spent the last 40 plus years living within spitting distance from  my neighbors lot line, I have discovered a lot of truths about living in "planned communities".  As time and space won't allow for me to list all the ins-and-outs of suburbia living in a single post,   I will share a couple of  nuggets today and perhaps address a few more down the road. 

Thought Number One: Neighboring in the Midwest

Neighboring can be a challenge...or at least it can be for those that might be somewhat apathetic about being part of a neighborhood clique  (AKA me).  Despite the obvious "wordiness" on my part that you read in my blogs, I don't tend to visit over the fence much.  My husband is much more the liaison of our household to make small talk.  I, on the other hand, am the person that actually knows the neighbors by name.  (Husband,  the guy across the street, his name is Jeff)  BUT, in my defense, I am not unfriendly either.  I just keep interaction to a minimum.  Those of you that have been reading my blog for awhile might remember some of my "bad" neighbor stories.   I figure by keeping a modest amount of detachment, will save me from being asked to do all their mending. (yes, neighbor in Iowa sent her kid over weekly with things needing mended.)

One of the components of dealing with neighbors in this part of the country, is that people hibernate in the winter months. Sure, you see them once in awhile, while they shovel snow but then they are just grouchy and cold.  Not overly friendly ...with a few notable exceptions of a couple of houses to the right of mine.

The grouchier neighbors do upon occasion perk up when my husband comes outside pushing his snow blower. It appears that snow blowers foster camaraderie.  Yes,  and if there is ever a time to be nice to the neighbor,  it's when there is 10 inches of snow and the guy next door seems to enjoy pushing snow off walks and drives with a shiny red machine.  (He loves to mow the lawn as well. Yes, he is an interesting person...and when I say "interesting" I mean odd.)

Midwest hibernation is coming to an end...with any luck.

Anyway...as I was saying, people here stay confined to their houses from about late November to sometime mid-March when little by little they come out into the yard.  They may not look exactly like you remembered them in the fall.  The lack of sunshine and  binging on "comfort food" has left them a little pasty and with a few extra  el-bees that weren't' evident 4 months ago.

The fact, they have a serious case of  "cabin fever" makes everyone a little more crazy than they would be in August. (to clarify, I am saying slightly crazier.  It is a given that they have some level of crazy year round.)

 EXAMPLE:  Last week we had 6 inches of snow.  This winter we had 39 inches of snow.  Up until yesterday, the remnants of that snow remained.  I am not kidding you...yesterday as the day reached up into the 70's,  I saw two neighbors out watering their lawns.  (Our irrigation systems are still winterized here, so I am talking about watering lawns with a hose and sprinkler.) I am not exactly sure if they truly believe that water is needed or if they are just needing an excuse to see the pasty, pudgy neighbors that have ventured out into the sun.

Which is bringing me up to my next thought, really.  People in subdivisions by their very nature are competitive and territorial.   These two things go hand and hand.

Thought Number Two:  Keeping Up With the Jones' While Simultaneously Keeping Them Off Your Lawn

Little Crabby Pants..Ruler of Her Sandbox

I would be disingenuous if I didn't confess that I am totally guilty of being territorial . Remember when you were a kid and forced to share with the other little kids.  I did but I expected them to treat my things very carefully.

I haven't progressed much.  I am fussy about our little patch of suburbia. There are a lot of examples of this but let's start with this.  We are "yard people".  Invariably, our lawn will look something akin to fake turf because we work hard to make it pretty. We don't keep our lawn lush because we are trying to prove something. We keep it lush because it looks nicer that way. Although having a nice  lawn isn't without some consequences.  In most cases, half the neighbors will admire it and half the neighbors will  want to murder you in your sleep.   With this in mind, I keep my doors locked at night.

For my part, I am willing to accept those that pray for fungus to attack my grass, but while praying for pestilence, I want them to keep their dog from using my yard as a toilet. Oh, and the multiple kitties that use my flower gardens as their litter box...I am not a big fan of that either.  (I am a big fan of dogs and cats...just want them to use the bathroom facilities somewhere other than my little slice of  suburbia.)

Suburban Moats...next big trend

AND if there is one thing that solidifies my need to protect my territory,  it's when someone blocks the end of my driveway or jumps the curb in front of my house with car tires. (whereby sprinkler heads die a quick and ugly death.) Yes, I recognize I am being petty.  I wouldn't be the first person to feel this way if you think about it.

Last summer, we had a very vivid example of a neighbor wanting us to respect the sovereignty of their yard.   One of our trees had been hanging over the fence.  I don't believe the tree was TRYING to be invasive or disrespectful of the airspace hovering over the fence but the "tree trimmer" that was hired to correct the problem, did so with gusto.

While this is a representation of the actual tree...It is very accurate.

It didn't go unnoticed.  The aforementioned liaison small-talker went out to have a chat with the tree trimmer guy. The talk didn't go as well as one might hope. Tree trimmer guy told hubby that if he was a GOOD neighbor he wouldn't of let the tree branches grow over to the other side of the fence.  This didn't make a favorable impression on Hubby.  The conversation deteriorated from there.

Robert Frost really knew a thing or two about neighborhoods.

Come Join Top Sites Tuesday and be #1 on BlogDumps!
The purpose of this Meme is to encourage
Networking between bloggers and to have fun while doing it!
Make sure to visit all the other participants and leave comments

Heaven It's Not

Springtime in the Midwest

I am cranky!  Yes, today is definitely a day for Crabby Pants to visit here at TAOBC. I could blame it on the weather.  A foot of snow in late March didn't help improve my mood, but actually it is a combination of smaller annoyances, which I will get to shortly.

There was a movie...although for the life of me I can't remember which one...that espoused the idea that Heaven was a place where the things you loved doing  in life would be yours for eternity. Does anyone remember which movie that was in?  Darn, that is going to nag at me trying to remember where that came from.  Anyway...if Heaven would actually turn out to be spending Eternity doing all the things we love to do,  then  Hell must be doing the things we hate doing...forever...and ever...never ceasing...into Eternity.

Cheerful thought don't you think?

News Around Town

I have a lot of pictures today!!


It's the combination of snow and ice that makes things more difficult.

 

picture is courtesy of KansasCity.com
When the city advisories said "STAY OFF THE ROADS", I don't think they meant driving off of them.

This week, here at TAOBC, I am aiming for a few  heart warming stories resulting from events around Kansas City. Anything that has the word "warm" connected to it, got moved to the front of the line.  So for today, I am just talking about some nice things that have happened in my city this past week.  Hopefully, there are nice things happening where you live as well.

 Last week, I wrote about the first wave of the snowstorm that blew through here on Thursday. With that storm most of the KC got between 10-16 inches of snow.  Comparatively speaking that amount  of snow isn't all that bad.  I guess, you might disagree if you live in Phoenix or Orlando. Here in Kansas City that amount isn't unheard of but is a bit unusual.  The upside to the snow...is that it is a  lot of fun for the kids (the word "kid" here isn't defined by age)  that came out in droves to play.  I was going to post a picture of all the people on one of the local sledding hills. but after arriving, I couldn't find a parking spot. The hill was covered with all manner of people with sleds, toboggans, even sheets of plastic to slide around on this wintery slide. SPOILER ALERT!!! Just so you get to see some sledding pictures, I have added some to the bottom of the post.

ANYWHO...  as I was saying.........That was last Thursday......and the snow wasn't done with us.  After a couple of days of milder weather, round two came through.  Tuesday of this week a second snow storm  moved into the area clogging up the already snow packed roads.  That brings me to a story that is a story about people being generous and kind.  Really?? LOOK AT ME WRITING A FRIDAY NEWS STORY THAT IS ABOUT NICE PEOPLE. 

Miracle of 74th Street

Emergency crews were called to a south side Kansas City neighborhood on Tuesday where  a resident had collapsed  of an apparent heart attack while trying to shovel out the snow from his drive.  Unfortunately, when the ambulance tried to enter the unplowed street, it became stuck.

Fire and Ice

Today most of the people in Kansas City are trying to scoop their way out due to snow storm that rolled through most of the Midwest.  It was a thunder snowstorm which made it somewhat unusual. While digging out driveways with 12+ inches of snow may not be everyone's idea of a good time, we have been in a serious drought for quite a long time.  At this point, any precipitation is a GOOD thing.   I have found it rather amusing,  with the non-stop weather reports, that all the stations keep showing us the various weather cams around town.

This weather camera is looking toward Country Club Plaza.

Where's the Snow?

Thought Number One: I am a member of   "SNOW FOR CHRISTMAS TEAM"



All of you out there that keep saying you hate the cold and would be happy never to see snow again...we can still  be  friends but secretly I will think you are slightly unhinged.  Who doesn't want a little snow in their life? Oh...that would be you, you say.  HMMMM  Let's agree to disagree.




Don't misunderstand...I don't want a blizzard or anything but it would be thrilling to wake up to a soft, white, beautiful, first snow of the season on Christmas morning.

Snow on Christmas Day.....Probably ...NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN but...still...I hope for it.

Some of you that have been reading my blog for awhile know that  I have lived in 39 different towns between my childhood and my adult life. Those have been fairly well split into places that had snow and places that NEVER had snow.  I always missed the  "hope and promise of snow" in those places where short of hell freezing over were geographically incapable of having even a sprinkling of white.  In all the years, we lived in Dallas, or Phoenix, I just never felt 100 percent Christmasy when it was 72 degrees or some un-winter like temp.

When I lived in Flagstaff, AZ or Grand Island, NE there was always a strong likelihood of seeing the lawn (or the garage) covered with snow on Christmas morning.  Remember the picture I posted of the geese in our back yard in Grand Island.  You might not of noticed but there is SNOW.

This is a sprinkling of snow by Nebraska standards.  It's a whole bunch of geese
by anyone's standards.

Some places such as the town of Kankakee, Illinois where I spent a lot of my "waiting for Santa" years, it was hit and miss as far as White Christmases go.  For whatever reason, back then, in the mid-1950's it was usually cold and snowy by December.  That doesn't seem to be the case anymore.

The following picture was taken on Court Street in Kankakee during the holiday shopping season. It appeared in Time and Life magazine in January 1951.   This was actually before I was born (but not by much) but you can see remnants of snow.  I love this picture because the street continued to look exactly like this for all the Christmases of my childhood with the exception of the cars model years.

Thought Number Two: Taking Matters Into Our Own Hands
So here I am in Kansas City.  This is one of the hit and miss states as far as snow in December goes.  I suspect the way this year is unseasonably warm this is the only way to have snow on Christmas.

click to enlarge