Block Party Season

This is the time of year you see block parties breaking out all over. We had ours this past Saturday. Overall, it was a pretty low-key affair.

Before things got started, there was Steve Patterson cruising by on his scooter. He even let me try it out for a ride. Thanks, dude.

At the block party, we had a cake walk, PA'd music, one of those inflated get-inside-and-jump-around things kids love, basketball, bike riding, a wine taste, and a big screen projection movie show for everyone after dark. Oh, and a campfire and s'mores. Everyone had a good time, and to follow up, this year we plan to circulate a block directory for neighbors to fill out and share their contact info with each other.

During the day, one of our old neighbor kids, "Johnny C", came back for the block party. He's a fourth or fifth grader, the middle child of three high-energy, big-fun kids. Little Johnny could out run kids twice his age. He was a demon during alley wiffle or b-ball games. Everyone would want Johnny C on their team. His brother and sister weren't too shabby neither.

It was nice seeing Johnny at the block party, and we welcomed him back. He still plays for the parish soccer team, even though his family moved out of the neighborhod this summer for a house on a big lot out somewhere around Manchester and Hwy 40.

I asked him if he missed anything about the old neighborhood. He said he didn't like the way houses were so much farther apart in their new neighborhood, and how it made it harder for them to visit their friends. And he said he didn't like the neighbor who lived up the hill from them very much.

Johnny said the neighbor was sort of an older man, and how whenever he or his brother or sister would hit balls from their backyard into the neighbor's, the neighbor man would get real angry with them about it. I don't remember the "C" kids ever getting into much trouble around our block. And if there was a problem, we'd talk with them about it and that would be the end of it. If anything, I remember them always being the first ones eager to help out with things if it meant our Matt could join them in some sandlot-styled game.

The "C" kids were chatty, fun kids to have around. And they had tons of kids to play with on our street. In fact, the kids sort of took over the place, and we figured that was a good thing.