Noticing is Remembering

a poem for today's 'The Art of Noticing" offering, my theme for the 21 Day Project

Today’s journal page for ‘The Art of Noticing’, my theme for The 21 Day Project. All of my journal pages are posted on my Instagram account

On our drive to school,

I told my observant son,¹

“This street² is special to me because neighborhoods are overly manicured now.”

There was a time before

Ornamental and seasonal plantings

When neighborhoods grew weeds and

Children were observant

To collect dandelions, buttercups, and clover

 Reaching for the sun

Through the broken parts of the sidewalks,

The parts we knew to jump over when on our bikes.

There was a time when chain link fences,

Decorated with woven, leafy vines,

Separated houses but not conversations

Between neighbors, and the patch of grass that grew beneath the

Fence dividing yards caused no division or judgement.

There was a time when mailbox flags

Were raised on every mailbox

And leaf piles remained for weeks because they were being used,

And some yard, near the river or field, always had a pile of bikes

And the street had rainbows and clouds drawn in chalk.

There was a time when driveways had cars in them,

And families were washing those cars,

Buckets, t-shirt rags, and taking sips from the hose,

Where water ran down the curb,

Down the entire street’s curb

And neighbors thought to wash their cars, too.

And the kids scrubbed the legs and blood of dead insects off the grill and windshield of the family car,

Because the world had more insects, then.

There was a time when doorbells rang,

And people held hot casserole dishes with two hands and oven mitts,

Or tomatoes or cucumbers because they had too many.

I said to my son,

“An important part of noticing is remembering. And you’ll never remember these times because they weren’t yours. But please don’t let the glare of today keep you from noticing what you’ll want to remember, tomorrow.”

1. I should add, both of my sons are extremely observant. Luke has given himself this name, in a positive way, and we roll with it.

2. Juniper Ave. is the street I refer to. I wrote a poem about it at the beginning of my 21 Day Project (you can find all posts on Instagram). I choose to drive through it every day and notice something new each time. Driving down this street conjures many feelings and I’m trying my best to capture them these days.