Take Me Back

A house is demolished in Salem. One of the beautiful old ones, aqua-green paint along the window frames, a white house, a porch, a sun room. Lots of plum trees. An old woman lived there, I saw that often in season she sold plums from baskets on the front porch.

The house has been empty awhile. A credit union is next door, with three drive-through lanes. A woman's domestic violence shelter is on the other side. Across the street is a large government building labeled "Employment".

The neighborhood has become too civilized for old houses with plum trees. For residents.

Though there are still some on the next block over. They rent out alley parking spots to people like me.

Seasons fade. Thursday is the last day for the vacant lot along State Street that sells topiaries and other quite interesting potted plants.

Leaves throw themselves off a one-story strip mall building of offices, landing in organized piles. Ah! So this is when dried old leaves from the prior season (FY 2009 vintage) finally jump. I have always wondered that.

This is also the season where ladders like to be seen. I saw half a dozen today, propped against various houses. Not a person in sight.

What else fades. If this was Facebook (tm), I would take a poll to get a long list of everyone's ideas.

Summer, of course, fades. The lists of fiction I didn't read (but, I did get started reading, linearly, the "1001 Books to Read Before You Die", that was fun). Dreams of selling the house - a lost cause, for now.

A new house, back in the city, with plum trees in the yard. Faded but not forgotten. Next year for sure.