every morning the old man that lives across the street sifts through the grocery cart he stores in his front yard. i don't know the reason, but it intrigues me more each day that i see him. does he get up early to push it around the neighborhood collecting cans- or is it something more interesting? what is he looking for?

the woman next door to our right has a Pomeranian named angel. her and Lady have become very fond of each other- running back and forth along the fence. even though she thinks its acceptable to plant silk flowers- she has had the neatest lawn on the block this fall; she makes her son rake every other day it seems. her yard is not grass- only clovers. there is also an umbrella carrying frog in the middle. there must be a 4-leaf clover in there somewhere, and sometimes i think about sneaking over to find it.

the family to our left is a younger bunch. there are always kids on their front porch- who knows which ones actually live there. but thanks to our thin walls we get to listen in on their arguments along w the bass on their stereos. the mother seems to always be yelling at someone. the husband tried to get our roommate to sleep with him.

our house also lies on one side of a 'speed bump' so we get the pleasure of watching and hearing ppl bottom out their cars every few minutes.

ive gotten to know the familiar faces around here. every night when i walk to work i see the same homeless ppl. they don't ask me for change any more. we just smile and say hello to each other like its been years. my favorite is the older light skinned black man in the wheel chair w blue eyes. i wonder what his story is.