In the fall of 2006 my husband and I bought a house in Washington, DC. We moved our stuff in just seven days before our wedding — that whole season was a wee bit stressful.
I did not actually fully move in until after we were married, so my family and I were dropping off the last of my stuff the night before our rehearsal dinner. Just moments before we arrived that night, there was a drive-by shooting that broke the windows on my next-door neighbor’s car.
I thought: “Whoah, I am not ready for this.”
But, well, you live with enough drive-by shootings and they just seem like part of the neighborhood. Kind of like the rats, whom we have named.
We live in a neighborhood that is three blocks east of gentrification. It sometimes feels like they are very long blocks.
But I love our neighborhood. I love it just the way it is — minus the shootings. I love my house, my neighbors. I love the cast of characters, the crazy activity, the racial and economic diversity, the cultural differences.
I am the neighbor looking out her window and smiling. This blog will record some of those sights in the inner city, some of the inner citings of my own mind … as well as other things overheard and observed here in the nation’s capitol.
When not in the ‘hood or deep within my own head, I love to be at church, out in nature or enjoying the arts. In my day job as a reporter, I’m frequently on Capitol Hill – it and other venues will likely make their appearances in the blog, as well.
