World Street

I happened to be dropping off a piece of mail in my building's lobby when I chanced to glance out the front, which is mostly glass. Since I can easily go many days without leaving my apartment, I seized the opportunity to be able to say that I had gone outside today no matter how things transpired. Once I stood outside, I decided to go a little further and make a complete circuit of the street I live on, or at least the single block of it. It was an edifying experience.

I started thinking about the multiple concentric shapes that constitute one's home at different levels. I say 'shapes' because they really aren't circles, but irregular shapes. At one end is one's own bed and at the other the universe itself. In between there are many 'homes', but one in particular interests me at the moment, and that as I said is the street my building is on. It only took a few minutes to walk the entire thing around, but it's astonishing how much there is in it. At one end is the busy main road, populated by various businesses. The small burger restaurant with only outdoor seating is most prominent from my perspective. On this particular day it was closed for no reason I could discern. Opposite that is an alley that goes on for some blocks and ends at the next major intersecting road.

Heading towards the opposite road perpendicular to my street, there's an interesting mix of residences. There are maybe three buildings as big, one or two not quite as big, and the rest seem to be single occupancy houses. Both apartment buildings and houses are of varying degrees of desirability. Mine is one of the best, and the two on either side are as well. I don't know whether I'd say it all goes downhill from one side to the other, but most of the good stuff does seem to be on one end. There is on the other end a badly deteriorating structure which caught my eye. The roof is caved in at multiple points and the lawn is overgrown with grass and weeds. It's possible that there are squatters, although my only basis for thinking so is that this has happened in unoccupied dwellings on this street in the past if what I'm told is reliable.

Directly outside that building is a neat little street of sidewalk which could hardly measure as many as fifty feet. It is distinguished mainly by the flora which gives it a neat, bucolic feel. It is probably so only for overactive imaginations such as mine, but who else's should I be concerned with? I like it. Walking a loop around this little street reminded me of the conditions which have been most conducive to giving me ideas. Being bombarded with information may plant the seeds, but isolation of a kind is what makes them sprout. Walking around for a few minutes with no music or conversation was very helpful. I may go on such walks more.