TheBanyanTree: (no subject)

[TL Wagener]

I agree, Maria.  There are up and down sides to community.  It's the balance
(as it is with everything) that is key.

I am happy to say that, even though I live in Los Angeles, the kids in my
(new) apartment complex play outside (laughing and screaming and shrieking)
under my window all the time.  Well, they did.  Now that school's on, it's
quieter.  And the complex swimming pool is definitely a community
headquarters.  Theee kids will remember each other as clearly as I remember
all the kids from my elementary school days cul-de-sac on Broken Bough in
Houston.  I have no doubt.

And the neighborhood Trader Joe's is, as it strives to be, the *neighborhood
* grocery store.  Artwork from local elementary schools is posted on the
walls.  An ongoing raffle.  Neighbors meet and greet and networking
abounds.  Last night a customer came through my line and urged me to produce
a Friday night Singles night at Trader Joe's.  I laughed and told her Friday
night is *aleady* Singles Night at Trader Joe's.  As is every other night of
the week.  And we give away free balloons and stickers, so every day is also
Family day.

But I set out very deliberately to build regular connection with
folks. I spent too many years with very limited human contact.  Now, living
in an apartment complex, rather than my old duplex, is somewhat like living
in my old college dorm.  People are always accessible, but not necessarily
the ones I might choose.  And folks who do not have or work at a Trader
Joe's must forge their own routes.

But it's possible.  Good Lord, if I can do it in Hoity-toity Silver Lake, in
Los Angeles, anyone anywhere can.  Set your mind to it.

However, we still have no Fall here.

xoxo
Sidda