Old Houses and What Our World Should Be

            I went to drop off a friend at her house after school yesterday. The neighborhood seemed a little small and dingy from the outside, and I had the immediate middle-class reaction: Oh, I’m so thankful for what I have. My neighborhood is so nice, so clean, so modern and elegant. It’s a peaceful neighborhood. But now I have realized something imperative: it’s boring.

            When we entered the neighborhood, I realized that it wasn’t small at all. It was large and winding"impossible to navigate without my friend as a guide. Of course, there was the initial image that would scare off those without personality--those without a creative soul. It was old and ragged, and many of the houses seemed run-down and downright weary. However, behind the depressing fog, the neighborhood had an old, intense beauty to it. In my neighborhood, the very mood is homogenous. The houses all have the same structure, similar colors, and are basically the same size. Last year, when my parents had our driveway painted so that it was noticeably whiter than any other driveway in the neighborhood, they were sent an angry letter from the neighborhood board demanding them to remove the paint.

            There are no such restrictions in the old, soulful neighborhood I visited that day. The houses consisted of a delightful variety of colors, and one of the largest abodes was a startling shade of baby blue. Each house had a structure divergent from those surrounding it: large, mansion-like structures stood next to small shacks with boarded windows. Each house had a yard, but the yards were covered with things that defined each home"some lawns were shaggy and uncared for, and some were neat and green and trim. Some lawns had the obvious signs of children, littered with toys and swing sets and trampolines. Some had rickety old lawn chairs that looked as if they may fall apart any minute, and some had new cars in their driveways that sharply contrasted the old pickup trucks that surrounded them.

            The atmosphere of the neighborhood seemed more homely than anything I have ever seen before. Of course, I cannot know the true dynamic between the people within the community, but I cannot help but allow my imagination to fill the neighborhood with kind, open, honest people who are all good friends in a tight-knit community, because how could they not be? It feels as though they are baring their souls to each other, because each house gives me a look into the personality of those who reside within it. I have no such methods for making determinations about my neighbors: each house is exactly the same, each lawn is green and neatly trimmed. I can’t help but wonder: if given the chance, who would paint their house blue or yellow or pink? Who would pick the house with the grand staircase leading up to it from two sides? Who would be eccentric enough to have a multitude of garden gnomes scattered across their lawn?

            No one in my community does these things, and it is not simply because of harsh, nonsensical regulations. A large part of it is the ruts of conformity that we all seem to fall into. Every house within the borders of “our neighborhood” (which begins to seem more and more possessive as I continue to say it) is uniform and prim. For one person to go against the norm and put anything more offensive than in a basketball in the frightening openness of their front yard would be an abomination. It is unthinkable. The very thought would never cross a person’s mind.

 

            I wish there was a blue house in my neighborhood. That is the way to live.

Reviews

[Matthew Smith]

I agree with the Sumayya person. Your descriptions were great. Not many people can pull off a five-paragraph description of a varied neighborhood. Good job. And enjoy it, seemingly.

I was raised in one such neighborhood. Sadly, most residents were addicted to drugs, but that's one of those little social factors that wouldn't figure in at a moment's glance.

-thumbs up-

[The XYZ Writer]

That was a good. You are talented at description. I know how feel when I come to a new neighborhood. And the last sentence was kind of ironic cuz I live in a blue house. Lol. Keep it up!!