Which Blog?

Photo courtesy of MoJo Pizza

I wasn't sure where to put this blog entry? I decided since the story prompted the lyrics vs. the lyrics prompting the story, I'd put in on the Blue Mailbox instead of One Good Line



“Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown...
For the times they are a-changin'.”

"The Times they are a-changin'", Bob Dylan

Last Saturday was a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine, could you be mine... Hello neighbors. Can you say "global warming"?

I started off the unseasonably toasty morning by going to work from 6:00 am to 1:00 pm. When I got home, Doc. B. and I decided to walk up to the Universal Joint for lunch and a beverage. The patio was overflowing with customers and dogs but we found a seat in the sun, placed our order, people watched, and admired the changes we’ve witnessed in our 'hood.

The first time we set foot in Oakhurst was probably about 8 years ago. Our friends had just purchased a home in the neighborhood and invited us to dine with them at the local pizza joint, MoJo’s. I recall being so scared by the seedy looking characters walking by that I seriously thought we were asking for trouble by sitting in one of the booths by the big picture window. Can you say "drive by shooting"? We vowed if we finished our meal alive, we’d need not venture back any time soon.

Now I’m grateful that MoJo’s, and others who followed, decided to give Oakhurst a chance. And I'm glad we eventually did too. It’s really turned into a very pleasant place to live.

As we were walking home from lunch, we ran into our friend "MAD". Well, actually, he ran into us since he was the one cruising around on his moped. MAD gets credit for giving our fair neighborhood the nickname "O-town". So MAD stopped to shoot the bull with us for a while. As we stood on the street corner catching up after the holidays, we became aware that others were also enjoying the weather. People were jogging, walking with baby strollers in tow, or driving with convertible tops down. It didn’t occur to us that all of the people we were noticing happened to be white until a car full of young black men pulled up to ask us for directions. The passenger opened his door and asked if there were any parks in the neighborhood. We started naming them off and they kept saying, "no, I don’t think that’s it". I finally said "what are you looking for, hoops?" They indicated that they were. That triggered my memory. I remembered that I had seen a lot of guys playing basketball at a park in the neighborhood next to us, East Lake. So I told them where it was and how to get there and they responded with "is it in a black neighborhood"? The three of us just looked at each other; glanced at the unusually large, seemingly endless flow of white people around us; shrugged our shoulders; and said "yeah, I guess you could say that."

Oh, the times, they are a-changin'...