Hello. A view from the kitchen...sunflowers leaning towards sunlight, even though they're fake, greening grass and a clean house.

We moved into this house over 10 years ago. The lots behind us have been big empty fields of weeds and occasionally alfalfa. It's nice having the open spaces. The end is near however. Big machines started digging a hole directly behind our property last week. The hole has turned into large piles of dirt. I have to share my father-in-laws perspective..."Well, it might be better than a field of weeds." Time will tell. I'd rather have the most obnoxious weeds known to man in the lot to the west of me instead of the neighbor I have.

Neighborhoods aren't like they were when I was young. The neighborhood I grew up in was a close knit "family". The parents kept an eye on all of the neighborhood kids. Sometimes that was annoying as a kid with a "creative" mind. All of the kids did everything together. You tried to find your "gal" amongst the neighbor-girls. It was like a bonanza when the elderly couple living next to my parents moved out and a young family with 3 fairly "HOT" daughters moved in. They also had 2 brothers which helped fill the roster on the neighborhood ball team.

Times were good in the 60's and 70's. At the time we didn't realize how good we had it. I hope my grandbabies will be able to experience childhood with the innocence and peace that I remember.