there goes the neighborhood

it’s saturday morning and the weather outside is nice. what a good time to walk around the block for a change and spy on my neighbors. i guess laundry chores can wait until the next weekend.

it’s almost the end of summer. but you can’t see that from the sun-drenched expressions on kids’ faces. like a band of roughriders, they pedal their bikes around the block, sowing fear among the early strollers and their dogs. wait, do i see one riding on a pink bike among them? i find it rather odd that a girl would ride with the boys. on second thought, maybe he’s a boy after all. he just happens to look like a girl. sometimes, it’s hard to tell the girls from the boys nowadays.

the older folks are busy in their yards. if they are married, you can always tell who’s the boss. it’s usually the one who talks the talk and walks the walk while the other one is doing all the work.

conspicuous in their absence are those belonging to the tv age group, the so-called 16 to 39 demographic. of course, they’re still in bed, sleeping in. after a week of living the life and staying late at night, they’re catching up on sleep.

i see that some folks are taking advantage of the remaining days of summer by having a garage sale. after years of living, we tend to accumulate lots of stuff, especially when we enjoy shopping. it just happens that we outgrow most of these stuff, some of them right after we leave the store. once coveted and thought to be must-haves, they end up as junks invading the attic, the closet, the basement, and everywhere there’s space including the bathroom. having a garage sale is a way of getting rid of the household clutter and earning extra money, too.

after visiting several of these garage sales, it dawns on me that these items, laid before my eyes, represent family history. a knickknack here and a knickknack there can be keepsakes from past travels. toys and books can be from children who have spread their wings and left the nest. shoes and dresses can be dropped down sizes or bequests from the dearly departed. a nice french vase can be a gift from a friend or lover who has fallen out of grace. sex magazines can be from a man who has moved on to internet chatting. and so on. ad infinitum.

ah, any moment now, the young riders will be coming back this way. i better head back home before they run me over. besides, it’s getting close to my haircut appointment.

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