One of the joys of my job is getting a chance to spend my days in a thriving neighborhood. Each morning, Sloan Street comes alive. Dog walkers and runners pass on the sidewalk. Moms, dads, and grandparents bring little ones to preschool at La Escuelita. As the day wears on, neighbors come out on their porches, visiting with one another, getting errands done, keeping track of the latest news around Mock Circle.
On quiet days at the office I like to sit out on our porch to work. There’s always someone to talk with as they pass, a friendly wave to exchange with drivers, passing up or down the hill—maybe some of them just a little too fast! From here, I’ve begun to connect with the people who call this neighborhood home. I can count on our neighbors to let me know what we’re doing right, what we’re getting wrong, and what we’re missing altogether.
But, more importantly, I get to be a part of the give and take that vital, healthy neighborhoods foster. When something happens, word gets out. We check on each other. We give each other space. And together we try to see ourselves as part of a larger whole. I watch as neighbors push out trash containers for people who have limited mobility. I get calls from folks who’ve noticed an after-hours delivery on our porch or who have a concern about a Creekside resident’s well-being.
It’s not a perfect place—nowhere that’s truly alive and growing and changing is. It is a place that people are proud to call home. It’s a place that fiercely protects its history. It’s a place of expectations and obligations and loss and gains. And it’s a place that shows me every day, all day, what it means to step outside myself and contribute to the larger, broader community.
My plan in this blog is to offer some window into what I see and learn here. I’ll take you with me to community events, food pantry visits, neighborhood projects, and daily conversations and connections. I hope you’ll recognize in the blog what you already know in your own neighborhood here in Davidson.
We’re a town with quiet, civic strength that powers us. We challenge each other. We find ways to work together. We don’t always share the same viewpoints. We occasionally frustrate the heck out of each other. But, mostly, even if in fits and starts, we try to be better than we were the day before.
I feel lucky to be a part of it all. It feels right to share a little of that joy.