14/52 urban spaces

I grew up in your typical suburban neighborhood. We had a neighborhood gang; we walked or rode our bikes to school. We had neighborhood Halloween and 4th of July parades with fire trucks and three-legged races. In the winter, they would flood a section of the neighborhood park for ice skating where we'd toast marshmellows over a small bonfire and drink hot cocoa while we warmed our bodies close to the flames. But today, I live in a very different environment, a very urban environment with a very different kind of charm in a neighborhood that's over a 100 years old in a house built in 1903. Instead of big lawns, we have strips of grass and window planters. Instead of the huge neighborhood park, we have a corner playground and, lucky for me, a community center with an entire city block of grass where my dog can run.

Sometimes I wonder how it happened though. Me, in this place. Was it a conscious choice, or did I just let it happen? You see, I crave wide-open spaces and natural surroundings. I crave mountains, oceans, sunsets and sunrises. I crave a natural beauty that man could never duplicate. Recently I was challenged to take a harder look at my neighborhood. A photographic look. I've found nooks and crannies in the past few weeks that I hadn't explored in 6 years. I've found beauty in the most unlikely places, wide-open spaces with sunset views & I'd imagine a sunrises too if i could make it there early enough. So, maybe its on top of an abandoned bridge under the power lines, or perhaps a little nook in the corner park, but the views are stellar, the feelings expansive, and the images stop my heart as much as the most beautiful sunset ever could.