Growing up, my neighborhood was not very big. There were about twenty houses and everybody knew each other. There were two streets, Cody and Patton, and they crossed in the middle of the neighborhood. Behind one side of the neighborhood was an elementary school with a big yard consisting of three baseball diamonds where I used to play little league. That elementary school was where I went to school from kindergarten through fourth grade, so I would often walk to and from school. On the side behind my house is a major road in my city. Before about 6 years ago there were a lot of potholes in the street and when big trucks would drive by it would shake the house as they went over the potholes. On another side of my neighborhood is where my grandparents live. It is very nice being able to walk one minute and show up in your grandparents driveway.
There were two families in my neighborhood who had kids around my age and I would play every single day I could with them. Their names were Preston, Jack, Brian, Grant, and Judd, and we would play outside when the weather was nice (I grew up in Illinois) and inside when the weather was not as nice. In the summer we played basketball, soccer, catch, football, etc. In the winter we mainly played with Nerf guns or video games inside. Those guys were like the brothers I never had because we did almost everything together. I wish I had some pictures down here in Florida to show but they're all up north!
When we took a break from playing games, we would go over to one of the guys' houses and their mom would make us grape Kool-Aid with extra sugar (of course). We would also snack on potato chips that one of which their entire cabinet drawers consisted. It was definitely not a heart healthy snack by any means, but these are some of the tastes I remember from my neighborhood. I also remember the smells of the freshly cut grass in the summer and the smells of the flowers and trees as they would bloom in the Spring. The smells of Spring are what make me miss living in Illinois the most.
There are many sounds I remember from my neighborhood. I remember hearing all of my friends yelling at each other to pass the ball while we played whatever sport it was that day. I remember my friends' dad whistling throughout the whole neighborhood around 6 p.m. when it was time for dinner. However, while these sounds still remain in my mind, there is one sound that I vividly remember. Down the street from my neighborhood was a small airport where people could learn how to fly. So, throughout the day in the summer I would hear numerous small planes circling around town. To this day, whenever I hear a small plane flying low to the ground I think of my neighborhood when I was growing up.
I hope this paints a picture of my neighborhood for you. I kind of told a story more than outline my neighborhood but I think it helps tie everything together. Below is a picture of my neighborhood. The red circle is my neighborhood, the purple dot is my house, and you can see the school and baseball diamonds towards the bottom of the picture. The two white circles were my friends’ houses and the white arrow points to my grandparents house.
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