Literally and figuratively. Here in Eugene, OR, Friendly Street runs through a neighborhood of ordinary homes, a few fancied up, but many still modest. It’s known as the Friendly neighborhood and I love living here. It’s walkable, with parks and churches and schools and a small grocery and decent restaurants and no homeowners association policing home and yard appearance. People walk by and tell you how nice your yard looks, or ask about your kids, or notice your dog being well behaved. They set out extra produce from vegetable gardens or extra bulbs from flowering plants to share. (We do have our curmudgeons, but everyone is a curmudgeon sometime.) Among the gardens — perfect or tidy or messy or disastrous — there is a fine dose of whimsy. Here’s just one example from our morning walk. I love that I never know what I’m going to see.
Susan Palmer's Exquisite Now 