Signs of Changing Times...

I moved to my current apartment complex June 2005.  The complex was still in the process of being built when I got my apartment.  Through the years, I have seen people come and go.  Some people I barely knew, while others, I got to know by just walking my dogs.  I admit, having a dog in an apartment complex turns you into a truly social person.  You are out there walking your little buddies and you get to know and relate to others with similar little buddies.

I have seen people move in and out of here for many years.  I had a next door neighbor who loved when Bo would appear on the balcony for what I call "Bark-a-polooza".  He would call Bo "Wolfie". 

Then, there was the gentleman who lived across from my apartment home.  He was such a sweet man.  His wife had passed away and he was living with his son.  If I was walking the dogs, he would slow down in his truck, roll down the window, and start barking at Bo and Chloe.  Once he got those two stirred up, he would laugh and wish me a nice day.

I never met this man, but had the coolest "man cave" set up in his garage.  If he was downstairs when I drove by his apartment, he would have the garage door open and you could see everything.  He had an old fashioned Coke machine, a 40" flat screen TV, a couple of computers, dart board, and other things.  It was always fun to drive by because with any sports event, he was down in his "man cave" doing it all.

The other day, I noticed that his garage was cleaned out.  That was a definite sign he was gone.  It makes me a little sad to see people leave.  Each person adds to the community in some way.  It is not something you pick up on unless you are really out and about in the community. 

Back in 1996, I had gone back to my weight doctor to get started back on phen-phen (before all of the bad effects were discovered).  As part of that, I made myself go and walk my parents' neighborhood every night after work.  After about a month, I had a real sense of the various people in the neighborhood.  My mom saw my weight loss and began on the meds shortly after I did.  She would start walking as well and noticed the same things.  We both knew which home had domestic issues, which home where there were the most parties, which home's yard was the best kept, and so forth.  It never ceases to amaze me how much you pick up on while just being out in your neighborhood.