# 38 - Don't Like Our Aging Neighborhood

One Week Past Easter

We used to have tons of kids in our neighborhood. Obviously, all those kids from 20 years ago, have grown up. But this year more than ever, I've been thinking of the kids who live in our neighborhood, now. I was sad today when I took down the egg perched in our tree. 10 days ago, I put it there for kids to spot. 

That mini plywood egg, was part of a neighborhood morale boosting project. Families were encouraged to decorate a small egg and display it in a window or somewhere in the yard. It would give families something fun to look for, when walking or driving by. It seemed like a good way to show we were all looking out for each other. I was happy to paint an egg and put it out.

But when I ran on Easter morning, I saw very few. 20 years ago, there would have been more eggs. We had more kids then and less technology.
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Bigger Egg

After putting out the little egg 10 days ago, I put Don to work with the jigsaw. 

He cut out a larger egg and the next day I played Easter Bunny. I snuck out before my morning run and  put the egg at the entrance. Just something fun for kids to spot.

It took me a while to decide where I could securely prop it. Then I suddenly felt weird about putting this silly decoration out. It might fall over and people won't want to touch it. Everyone seems on edge about the rules these days. My decoration might blow over and become annoying trash.

Memories

I stood there for a  minute, feeling odd. And as I thought for a moment, old memories of the neighborhood entrance came to me. 

Hurricane Harvey, gave our entrance a different look. Our entrance definitely looked eerie after we and our neighbors evacuated.  Instead of being told to stay at home, we were told to leave our homes. There was lots of worry, but also lots of support. People in our area, are much better at knowing about how to deal with hurricanes, than pandemics.

Angels at the Entrance

I really only stood there a few moments before I decided to leave the silly bunny egg. It was when I remembered the colorful angels that used to decorate our entrance, every December.

For about 10 years, our neighborhood gathered at the entrance for caroling a caroling parade. The angels are pretty hidden behind our group in this photo. But they were a festive addition. Thanks Lorrie, for making them! 

Bye Bunny

So today, I headed out to retrieve the wooden egg. 

I did it early when no one was around. Again, I was sort of sneaky... mostly embarrassed. Why again, did I put that bunny-egg out? Kids are all in their houses. Probably no one saw it. Oh well. I guess I did it for me. It was something fun to do. The bunny egg is hiding in the garage, until next year. Maybe young families will move in!