Scenes From My Bedroom Window

I love my town, I really do. It has a bad reputation and I truly believe it does just because there are a lot of ethnic people that live here. It is a suburban town that sits perfectly between two lovely cities; Chicago and Milwaukee. My town is like most small cities, high to low income, issues with the school district and the politics that surround everything; but, I love my town. I love walking down the street and seeing people working in their gardens. On one side of the street there is a man and woman working in the yard, and he has on a kilt, a Led Zeppelin t-shirt and sneakers. On the other side of the street there is a Black man wearing karate pants and a rice paddy hat! Really? All I can do is giggle as I watch the Vatos locos in their low riders, am I back in California? They give me the peace sign and I nod my head in acknowledgment and we both keep movin'. When you live in a town of different ethnic groups, there is always the lovely food to try. I can walk down the street and get real deep dish pizza, cross the street and get red snapper tacos, drive two miles down the road and order pancit and finish it off with grilled pineapple. Tonight there was an Indian wedding parade on my street! It was so colorful and beautiful. The women and men were singing and beating drums and everyone came out to watch and wave. Like with most towns nowadays, crime has risen and there seems to be a lot more cynicism, but there is also this move it and shake it up spirit ( especially among the 20 and 30 yr. old's) that is keeping most of these small cities alive. The "kids" are coming home to open their own business's and raise their families. This is what gives a town and its people hope. We live in a tough world and everyone needs a place to call home. It would be easy to segregate yourself, see the same people, narrow your vision to the point where you only see the end of your nose, but what a boring, predictable Life! Get out there and enjoy your town, make a difference in it and bloom where you are planted. Wishing you Love and Peace, but mostly Peace.