At the start of this week, I rode my bike down Westside Terrace between The Bungalows and Creekside. Rosy shadows in the cherry trees that line the street hinted at the coming burst of delicate pink. Today, as I pedaled to The Bungalows from Creekside, that blossom pink was on full display.
Time sets its own pace. Waiting can seem endless, the deliberate, unfolding of days verging on conspiratorial. No assurance of a coming day lifts the yoke of carrying a wait. As much as we try to harness time, it imposes an inherent vulnerability as it slips by us—even more so when it’s not the only thing reminding us of how little control we have.
When I talk with people who live in one of our affordable rental neighborhoods, time is always an undercurrent in the conversation. Will the rent increase next year? If something breaks, how quickly will it be fixed? When will our aging homes get the face lift they need? What does tomorrow look like here? There’s an urgency evident in these questions, which belies the uncertainty that waiting triggers.
Even so, it takes time to breathe new life into an older garden, even under the care of the most dedicated gardener. In that dormant period after the leaves wither, when winds blow cold, and the ground hardens, the soil needs tending to prepare for the possibility of renewal that Spring brings. The blossoms take months to arrive, but careful, consistent efforts to prune, to graft new shoots, and to amend the soil in which they grow can bring new life to once brittle branches.
Spring is nearly here in Davidson, and for our communities, starting first with The Bungalows. We have been quietly and steadily preparing the ground so we can launch roof repairs, interior updates, and system replacements. We understand that our confidence in the coming Spring may not yet be shared by all of our residents. We know the proof is in the blossom.
It has been an unusually cold winter here in Davidson—at least it feels that way to a Northeasterner gone soft in nearly 30 years of living in the South. I grew up in Washington, DC and lived there for a time as an adult. My sense of place and time is rooted in the blossoming of cherry trees. We Washingtonians spend the winter waiting and watching the Tidal Basin for the reassurance that comes with buds, marking time until the National Parks Service forecasts peak bloom.
I know by the signaling cherries that Spring is just around the corner. Keep watching our socials, our website, and the neighborhood for signs that it’s arriving for our residents too.