Bringing down the house

RIP Boo Radley....

For the last four and half years, this abandoned house has been my neighbor. Not to mention the occasional tenants there, including rats, possoms and one very lucky armadillo that ended up in my swimming pool several months ago.

He managed to hang onto life at the skimmer and survived. My neighbor rescued him, and we let him go his merry way.

Not anymore. This week, with one big crush and many crackles "Boo Radley' was leveled(read/see "To kill a Mockingbird" to understand this dubious distinction).

One minute it's an abandoned home in disrepair, the next it virtually disappeared.

This was the view from my house. Really, this is right next door.

Crossing Paths

Then much to my surprise and those of my neighbors, the home across the street also got gobbled up.

I had to document the moment. I couldn't help but think of all the memories the families who lived there must have enjoyed.

The previous owner was a lovely family with two boys. Jim was an optometrist. His wife was a stay at home mom. They seemed very happy, but ultimately moved back to Montana and reluctantly, they sold to a builder.

This was a real lived-in home, with what I can only imagine to be filled with many happy times.

Moving Forward?

I guess this is the product of "gentrification". That's my little home in the background.

This is urbanization in a time when we think bigger is better. Those sturdy, small homes are being replaced by 4000 square feet "McHouses", only to be inhabited by DINK (double income no kids) types.

What ever happened to simplicity, when life was not about Xboxes, malls, expensive cars and big houses?

I guess this is what some call "progress".

Of course, someone's going to make a mint now that my neighbors won't be critters anymore.

In a strange way, I'll miss those little guys.

And I'll stick to my 1947 bungalow.

Cheers and happy training!

“Throw back the shoulders, let the heart sing, let the eyes flash, let the mind be lifted up, look upward and say to yourself…Nothing is impossible!”~Norman Vincent Peale