SUNDAY FARMERS MARKET:
Cesar went with me to the Farmers' Market this am. Kept saying he wasn't hungry, but I'm glad to say he had a cheddar brat with me for breakfast. Saw Kenchi's uncle when I picked up egg rolls and passed on a greeting from the neighborhood.We purchased several phlox and a couple other plants...I keep saying 'these are the last flowers'. Yesterday morning when I went out to plant bulbs that Jill had left, Mario and Cesar were right there to help. Also, we found a beautiful jar of honey with honeycomb...mmmm. I took a piece of the honeycomb and gave Cesar the jar to take home. He told how, in Mexico, he helped to smoke the bees to remove honeycomb, and how large it was. This young man has so many stories of his life in Mexico and his travels here and back. He and others, like Abigail have seen and experienced so much. Their stories could enrich our lives greatly.
SPNN KIDS VIDEO PROJECT:
Friday night, Mary Pumphreys and her son, Augie, came over to show us a preview of the Kids Neighborhood Video project. We had a small group Friday - not many kids around, for whatever reason. We showed the video twice...the first group had several adults who knew many places, but the second group, too - recognized and enjoyed seeing the bakery and several houses they recognized, with he little histories.
LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR ME:
Movies and projects such as this on the porch/yard, have been a learning experience in the attention span of various kids, and what movies appeal to them. It's certainly not as easy as taking six white, USA-reared children with same cultural background and similar experience and seeing an almost one-size fits all project through. Here we have varying degrees of comprehension and language skills, extreme differences in attention span and learning. If this is even a small indicator of what our elementary teachers face in their classrooms, they indeed face a tremendous challenge!
BIKES FOR KIDS:
Lara, by chance, met a neighborhood man who rebuilds bicycles that he finds broken and abandoned in the streets. She's been able to provide many of her neighbors with bikes. I called him yesterday and will connect with him again today. Cesar said about ten kids can use bikes. We'll pay for what we can. The man doesn't charge much, and I think the kids will appreciate them more it they can pay something.
I'll stop at Target on the way home to see what locks and cables cost. Too broke right now to do much until Friday.
IS SESAME STREET SURREAL?
In the last three weeks:
On the 19th, I came home early one day to find a mini-van partially blocking my drive, and parked about three feet from the curb. Long story short, young man was passed out behind the steering wheel, female passenger on cell phone; said car trouble/didn't need my help, said both had just moved here and were tired. I called non-emergency to have squad check on car. They quickly connected me to ambulance squad when I told her about driver. While I was on this call, the passenger finally aroused the driver and they switched positions before police arrived. Driver taken away in ambulance, police (three squads and canine unit) did thorough search of bags, passenger, vehicle (about 2 and a half hours).
The following Thursday when I got home, neighbors and kids told me of two groups who clashed. One group came into our block with bats, took one or two porch spindles from a neighbor's house, three shepherd plant hooks, and a brick from several neighbors. Neighbors said it was a 'ten on ten' and one person was taken in by police. A police report I later received from Ellen B. stated fewer people were actually involved (though all neighbors did say 'ten on ten'), and more people were cited. A windshield and window from one car were smashed. When I arrived home, there was glass on Bates at Fourth, and two of the three planters across the street were neatly sitting where they once had hung by the shepherds hooks I had put out for neighbors last year.
Later that day, one neighbor found the brick, another found the spindle/s and another the shepherd hooks and replaced them. I then replaced the flowers and exchanged them for fresh flowers as they had dried and seemed a bit ragged.
The funny part of all this is that when Kate, who had been away all week, came home, all was in order and no one would have guessed of our little melee.
Then last week, one block down, Lara experienced an episode of a person claiming to have a gun, yelling for all the kids to go behind the house, police appearing and staying only briefly (minute or two), and then a few hours later, Lara was in front, mending a child's scraped knee...police came by...all was peaceful, as if nothing had ever disturbed the relative quiet.
Yesterday Cesar told me that this past Thursday two people, with a gun, were at Fifth and Bates, looking for the daughter of a Fifth St. resident. No other info on it, except the daughter, apparently, has a history of getting into trouble. Larry never said a thing...that's how ordinary these occurences are in the neighborhood. The kids don't seem at all phased by these, though I know they are, from asking Cesar and Jose how they handle them.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Fourth of July Weekend on Fourth and Bates
Fireworks>
It was the first time in a couple years that I was home for the Big Fourth. The neighborhood fireworks (imported from Wisconsin) didn’t bother me as much as in the past – we had enough rain that those that hit the houses and yards didn’t seem quite as dangerous. Sunday night I heard several hit second floor windows and found pieces in our parking area and yard.
I moved several kids, over the weekend, away from our intersection where younger children were playing. Seeing so many 7-13 year olds with lighters and matches, setting off all kinds of illegal fireworks was not very comforting, with none of their parents around. Thankfully, not of our kids got hurt – amazing!
What is funny is that several of the boys would take their firecrackers and set them off on the sidewalk in front of other houses…parents don’t want them in front of theirs, perhaps? I kept directing them back to their own. Finally, yesterday, they set many off near a vacant, dilapidated house a couple doors down. Frankly, I kept hoping the house would catch fire so we wouldn’t have to keep looking at it too slowly falling in.
Yard Sale and movies>
Bonni and Kyle are moving, so several of us got together for a two-day yard sale: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66815&id=1176506549&l=81a4af5791
Even the littlest ones brought things to sell and kept the economy going by purchasing ‘stuff’. Samantha set up a lemonade stand on Friday. We had masks to give away and kids loved that.
We had movies on the porch Friday - 'Madagascar II' and 'Meet Dave' on Saturday, after 'Invictus' took a dive.
On Friday also, we kept watch on a neighbor's home and were on extra alert for the children. Several children up the street, who are unsupervised by an adult all day and into the night, had threatened one of our six year olds with a bat and broken knife. We called the police a couple times. Turns out that the same kids had threatened a number of our other neighborhood kids in the past. Seems to be a constant here. The oldest boy went past my porch and as the neighbor and I were talking, pointed his hand like a gun at us. Where are the parents?!
Block Party>
Three years ago, I helped to set up a Fourth of July block party in the cul de sac. Because of one resident, it then became an ‘invited only’ party, not a public neighborhood party. So last year I didn’t help set it up as she didn’t want her neighbors (mostly black and low income) access. She has a reputation for deterring people from using the overlook to watch the Fourth fireworks – turning her sprinklers onto the public grass, etc.
This year, Lara, who lives in the cul de sac got the street blocked and passed out flyers of invitation. I made all the potato salad and one of Lara’s neighbors grilled hot dogs for everyone. To her credit, the anti-social woman did supply watermelon and grapes….thank you very much.
Lara arranged a dance-off for the kids and it was great. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1450629&l=6da3650509&id=1176506549
The kids had a great time and I really enjoyed meeting some of our new Karen neighbors and Lara’s renters. The fire department brought a truck for the kids to climb on…until they were called away for a fire.
Sadly, someone had smeared axle grease over the road barrier at the end of the cul de sac, and over the cement wall and chain link fencing that overlooks Mounds Boulevard. For as long as fireworks have been on display from the Capitol grounds and from Harriet Island, this is where area people come to sit on the barrier and stand against the wall with their children to watch the display.
Lara called the police to let them know about the vandalism and I called the fire department on Sunday afternoon to see if the substance was hazardous and could it be removed. While we had thought it was motor oil, they identified it as axle grease, confirmed that someone had purposely smeared it (only in the areas where people normally viewed the fireworks display, and said they had nothing that would remove it. They recommended a degreaser.
We went home and got all the cleaning supplies we could find, and borrowed several hoses – about five, I think, and spent hours scrubbing down the barricade, wall and fencing. Even the little ones were determined. We now have the cleanest cul de sac in the city!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66895&id=1176506549&l=930611ff86
All in all, it was a great weekend on Fourth and Bates. The kids learned some powerful lessons.
It was the first time in a couple years that I was home for the Big Fourth. The neighborhood fireworks (imported from Wisconsin) didn’t bother me as much as in the past – we had enough rain that those that hit the houses and yards didn’t seem quite as dangerous. Sunday night I heard several hit second floor windows and found pieces in our parking area and yard.
I moved several kids, over the weekend, away from our intersection where younger children were playing. Seeing so many 7-13 year olds with lighters and matches, setting off all kinds of illegal fireworks was not very comforting, with none of their parents around. Thankfully, not of our kids got hurt – amazing!
What is funny is that several of the boys would take their firecrackers and set them off on the sidewalk in front of other houses…parents don’t want them in front of theirs, perhaps? I kept directing them back to their own. Finally, yesterday, they set many off near a vacant, dilapidated house a couple doors down. Frankly, I kept hoping the house would catch fire so we wouldn’t have to keep looking at it too slowly falling in.
Yard Sale and movies>
Bonni and Kyle are moving, so several of us got together for a two-day yard sale: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66815&id=1176506549&l=81a4af5791
Even the littlest ones brought things to sell and kept the economy going by purchasing ‘stuff’. Samantha set up a lemonade stand on Friday. We had masks to give away and kids loved that.
We had movies on the porch Friday - 'Madagascar II' and 'Meet Dave' on Saturday, after 'Invictus' took a dive.
On Friday also, we kept watch on a neighbor's home and were on extra alert for the children. Several children up the street, who are unsupervised by an adult all day and into the night, had threatened one of our six year olds with a bat and broken knife. We called the police a couple times. Turns out that the same kids had threatened a number of our other neighborhood kids in the past. Seems to be a constant here. The oldest boy went past my porch and as the neighbor and I were talking, pointed his hand like a gun at us. Where are the parents?!
Block Party>
Three years ago, I helped to set up a Fourth of July block party in the cul de sac. Because of one resident, it then became an ‘invited only’ party, not a public neighborhood party. So last year I didn’t help set it up as she didn’t want her neighbors (mostly black and low income) access. She has a reputation for deterring people from using the overlook to watch the Fourth fireworks – turning her sprinklers onto the public grass, etc.
This year, Lara, who lives in the cul de sac got the street blocked and passed out flyers of invitation. I made all the potato salad and one of Lara’s neighbors grilled hot dogs for everyone. To her credit, the anti-social woman did supply watermelon and grapes….thank you very much.
Lara arranged a dance-off for the kids and it was great. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1450629&l=6da3650509&id=1176506549
The kids had a great time and I really enjoyed meeting some of our new Karen neighbors and Lara’s renters. The fire department brought a truck for the kids to climb on…until they were called away for a fire.
Sadly, someone had smeared axle grease over the road barrier at the end of the cul de sac, and over the cement wall and chain link fencing that overlooks Mounds Boulevard. For as long as fireworks have been on display from the Capitol grounds and from Harriet Island, this is where area people come to sit on the barrier and stand against the wall with their children to watch the display.
Lara called the police to let them know about the vandalism and I called the fire department on Sunday afternoon to see if the substance was hazardous and could it be removed. While we had thought it was motor oil, they identified it as axle grease, confirmed that someone had purposely smeared it (only in the areas where people normally viewed the fireworks display, and said they had nothing that would remove it. They recommended a degreaser.
We went home and got all the cleaning supplies we could find, and borrowed several hoses – about five, I think, and spent hours scrubbing down the barricade, wall and fencing. Even the little ones were determined. We now have the cleanest cul de sac in the city!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=66895&id=1176506549&l=930611ff86
All in all, it was a great weekend on Fourth and Bates. The kids learned some powerful lessons.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
It was a very nice day
I finally finished a letter about local traffic - I had been procrastinating for months. It took concentration, coffee, a Caribou environment, and three hours; interrupted once by a neighbor who sounded as if she had a desire to pick a fight. I needed to get back to my work and I wasn't wanting to parry words with her (she kept picking things apart). I'm afraid when I said I didn't want to go into anything right now (work and public place on a cell) she took offense, which I think she wanted to do anyway, and hung up. Not the first time and it won't be the last...she's one of two who seem to always be looking for something to disparage or tsk about.
That was a very small, but annoying piece of the day. I got home and Kenchi came running over with a hug, Samm asked if I was going to visit her at her house, Pedro, Jose, Jesus, John, Mario, Fermin, Cesar, Kenchi, were all out and I love the joking and teasing. John is so good with the boys. The boys know quite a bit about what goes on in the neighborhood. It's an active intersection and John filled me in on Brandon's run-in with his mother and the latest, usual petition for blocking the cul-de-sac. Supposedly it's for a 'block party', but the petitioner invites only a select few, not her neighbors for a private party. Several of us won't go after the first one because it was such a sham, plus she was appeared upset with more than half the people there. Now it's pretty much of a private party with public funds paying for firefighters to block the street with their truck. It's adds to the funkiness and weirdness of the neighborhood.
A plus is that several weeks back I serendipitously met a man who had just finished teaching a drumming workshop here at Metro State Library and he's agreed to hold a drumming workshop for my neighborhood kids. I have to come up with $75 and he can work with 10-15 kids, using the big plastic pails (like the restaurant pickle pails). They'll love it! I can invite some of the newer kids who live down on Maria and seem to have no supervision. It might be a helpful way of bringing some of them together.
That was a very small, but annoying piece of the day. I got home and Kenchi came running over with a hug, Samm asked if I was going to visit her at her house, Pedro, Jose, Jesus, John, Mario, Fermin, Cesar, Kenchi, were all out and I love the joking and teasing. John is so good with the boys. The boys know quite a bit about what goes on in the neighborhood. It's an active intersection and John filled me in on Brandon's run-in with his mother and the latest, usual petition for blocking the cul-de-sac. Supposedly it's for a 'block party', but the petitioner invites only a select few, not her neighbors for a private party. Several of us won't go after the first one because it was such a sham, plus she was appeared upset with more than half the people there. Now it's pretty much of a private party with public funds paying for firefighters to block the street with their truck. It's adds to the funkiness and weirdness of the neighborhood.
A plus is that several weeks back I serendipitously met a man who had just finished teaching a drumming workshop here at Metro State Library and he's agreed to hold a drumming workshop for my neighborhood kids. I have to come up with $75 and he can work with 10-15 kids, using the big plastic pails (like the restaurant pickle pails). They'll love it! I can invite some of the newer kids who live down on Maria and seem to have no supervision. It might be a helpful way of bringing some of them together.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Little neighbors
Neighborhood garden tour was yesterday evening - very pleasant, though I went to the first and then mine, not finishing the tour. I was just too tired. Also, I just didn't want to deal with probable drama of one of the group. Influenced by wine (her own self-disclosure of 'if you want to talk with me, catch me before 3:00'), she tends to get snarky and make some cruelly biting remarks to me in a group; she's very caring and pleasant in private conversation. I just don't need that in my life. So rested instead, and worked on our July 2 yard sale.
Kenchi and Cesar were in attendance and I realize how much they and some of the other kids add to my life. I am so grateful for them. Life is good with children and gardens in it.
Kenchi and Cesar were in attendance and I realize how much they and some of the other kids add to my life. I am so grateful for them. Life is good with children and gardens in it.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Expecting a quiet weekend and bits and pieces
Tonight will be our second 2010 movie weekend. Last weekend two new kids joined us. A little boy, about 11 commented, as he watched the movie, "I like this better than my house". I think it was our giant screen. Kinji, who is five years old, was allowed over. He is so very tiny - just a wisp...so talkative. He ran through his list of favorite movies and all the action. I think he remembers everything. A-, whose mom works at the nearby bakery, couldn't stay, but she is a fantastic little girl...looks 12 years old, but is only eight...and stories to go with it.
These kids are great additions. Unfortunately, Jessica, who used to live across the street (it was her screams we heard and reported) has moved. Will the next neighbors dare to 'interfere'? I hope so.
I'm creating quite a stack of items for a yard sale later this month. The Mickey Mouse and Cookie Monster sweaters that belonged to Sam as a two year old...finally ready to part with them! The Star Wars Atat (sp), Darth Vadar, and space ships...not sure yet...looking for prices. These were huge investment in the 70s!
It feels good to be able to finally separate. I don't have much packed away, but every bit of space counts in an apartment. Now if there were a way to motivate my downstairs hoarding neighbor. It's frightening the stacks and stacks and piles of 'stuff' he has there.
My cell phone is not working. I think it was too close to my magnetized name tag in my purse...ROT!!
This past week I planted more perennials, purchased from a fundraiser neighborhood plant sale. I kept declaring myself done, then a neighbor kept dropping off False Solomon Seal native plants. I planted and gave much away, got more and will plant the rest tomorrow. I picked up some REAL Solomon Seal last night and will plant them tomorrow. Someone stole my tomato plant I had in a big pot near my drive. If the person had waited, s/he could simply have picked tomatoes off the vine later this summer. Fortunately, I have two more plants on the other side of the house. They just won't be as productive.
These kids are great additions. Unfortunately, Jessica, who used to live across the street (it was her screams we heard and reported) has moved. Will the next neighbors dare to 'interfere'? I hope so.
I'm creating quite a stack of items for a yard sale later this month. The Mickey Mouse and Cookie Monster sweaters that belonged to Sam as a two year old...finally ready to part with them! The Star Wars Atat (sp), Darth Vadar, and space ships...not sure yet...looking for prices. These were huge investment in the 70s!
It feels good to be able to finally separate. I don't have much packed away, but every bit of space counts in an apartment. Now if there were a way to motivate my downstairs hoarding neighbor. It's frightening the stacks and stacks and piles of 'stuff' he has there.
My cell phone is not working. I think it was too close to my magnetized name tag in my purse...ROT!!
This past week I planted more perennials, purchased from a fundraiser neighborhood plant sale. I kept declaring myself done, then a neighbor kept dropping off False Solomon Seal native plants. I planted and gave much away, got more and will plant the rest tomorrow. I picked up some REAL Solomon Seal last night and will plant them tomorrow. Someone stole my tomato plant I had in a big pot near my drive. If the person had waited, s/he could simply have picked tomatoes off the vine later this summer. Fortunately, I have two more plants on the other side of the house. They just won't be as productive.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Summer annoyances and deep breaths
It was so unbearably hot yesterday, hitting 90 degrees, and I heard, the hottest day here on May 24 in 125 years. I do not deal well with humidity. After work I attended a Paint the Pavement meeting, wanting to repaint our not yet one year old intersection 'mural'. It's very badly faded into an inky wash. The PtP coordinator had not seen anything like it.
Later in the evening, around 10:30, I was upstairs at my computer when loud voices continued. At first I thought it was just neighbors on their front porch, but it became more disruptive, apparently yelling out to possible acquaintances driving by. I went out onto the downstairs porch - a quiet presence sometimes changes things. I sat out there for about 10 minutes as five or six young men and women stood on the corner talking, laughing - loud enough that with the hot night and close houses, the sound carries to the far inner reaches of the houses, when it's already too humid to sleep.
Deep breaths, practice voice tone in my head, rephrase introduction. I didn't know what mood or attitude I might receive and wanted to be careful about the attitude I gave. "Hi, I've got some pretzels here if any of you would like any..." The answer I received from a young man who said he was 25, was "Hi, how ya doin'? Are we being too loud?" "A bit, yes,' I explained Kyle works two jobs and three nearby houses have young kids who have to be up early for the school buses. We joked; I promised that yes, I'd share a glass of wine with him sometime, though I would still need to card him...' We joked about that and in a minute or two, they split up and walked toward their homes.
This past week, at the end of the day, and sometimes even mid-afternoon, I have felt shredded inside. We have in influx of so many kids who are unsupervised; music blaring from the apartment and the house across the street (doesn't everyone want to listen to the music I like?), cars with broken or no mufflers, taxis and friends beeping horns instead of using cell phones or their pick-ups watching for their rides, adults and kids yelling from one end of the street to the other, cars booming and rocking through the intersection, the neighbor two doors up who uses a power wash or electric tools from afternoon till late after dark, the woman across the street screaming at the man, the man apparently hitting the child and sometimes pounding his fist on the inside of the window (to scare Mel?). Then the visuals - the 19/20 year old who threw his plastic cup, filled with ice and covered, as high as he could and walked away from his litter; finding plastic bags of dog poop under a bush or hanging on the fence (glad you pick it up, people, but don't regift it to me!); picking up any kind of trash people don't want to carry around in their car;
and the cars that don't or barely even slow as they run the stop signs. I was watering the front flower beds at 6am and saw two go past...I didn't have my hose out far enough or I swear I would have got his car!! At various times I have counted 95 cars through the intersection in 45 minutes...this has been on weekends and any weekday evening.
Later in the evening, around 10:30, I was upstairs at my computer when loud voices continued. At first I thought it was just neighbors on their front porch, but it became more disruptive, apparently yelling out to possible acquaintances driving by. I went out onto the downstairs porch - a quiet presence sometimes changes things. I sat out there for about 10 minutes as five or six young men and women stood on the corner talking, laughing - loud enough that with the hot night and close houses, the sound carries to the far inner reaches of the houses, when it's already too humid to sleep.
Deep breaths, practice voice tone in my head, rephrase introduction. I didn't know what mood or attitude I might receive and wanted to be careful about the attitude I gave. "Hi, I've got some pretzels here if any of you would like any..." The answer I received from a young man who said he was 25, was "Hi, how ya doin'? Are we being too loud?" "A bit, yes,' I explained Kyle works two jobs and three nearby houses have young kids who have to be up early for the school buses. We joked; I promised that yes, I'd share a glass of wine with him sometime, though I would still need to card him...' We joked about that and in a minute or two, they split up and walked toward their homes.
This past week, at the end of the day, and sometimes even mid-afternoon, I have felt shredded inside. We have in influx of so many kids who are unsupervised; music blaring from the apartment and the house across the street (doesn't everyone want to listen to the music I like?), cars with broken or no mufflers, taxis and friends beeping horns instead of using cell phones or their pick-ups watching for their rides, adults and kids yelling from one end of the street to the other, cars booming and rocking through the intersection, the neighbor two doors up who uses a power wash or electric tools from afternoon till late after dark, the woman across the street screaming at the man, the man apparently hitting the child and sometimes pounding his fist on the inside of the window (to scare Mel?). Then the visuals - the 19/20 year old who threw his plastic cup, filled with ice and covered, as high as he could and walked away from his litter; finding plastic bags of dog poop under a bush or hanging on the fence (glad you pick it up, people, but don't regift it to me!); picking up any kind of trash people don't want to carry around in their car;
and the cars that don't or barely even slow as they run the stop signs. I was watering the front flower beds at 6am and saw two go past...I didn't have my hose out far enough or I swear I would have got his car!! At various times I have counted 95 cars through the intersection in 45 minutes...this has been on weekends and any weekday evening.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Screams, hits, who calls?
I spent most of my day on Friday in front of a computer stationed in a windowless cubicle. As I learned what a beautiful day it was, I began planning to be outside after work. I had a perennial that needed to be planted, as well as a few tomato plants given to me by a neighbor.
Several neighbors gathered on the sidewalk as I dug in the 'boulevard' flowerbed. As a few adults and kids tossed a football and dribbled a basketball among the others who chatted about plans for the weekend and some used furniture for sale, I was reminded why I love my Fourth Street neighborhood. There are divas, dramas, and we each at one time or another seem to evoke attitude or censure. We are a close knit neighborhood community.
As I was joining three friends for a glass of wine and a few minutes to check out one's newly rented house, my younger neighbor, about 9 years old - I'll call her Mel - approached me with her friend Alma and Alma's little sister (they were babysitting). Mel said, in her usual adult way, 'Sage, would you introduce us to the others, please?' I called out the other women and made introductions; then the three youngest had to go home.
Later, as I was working on the planting, Mel called me to the corner. She told me the little girl in the upstairs apartment was being 'hit again'. 'It happens all the time', she said; I hear her screaming a lot'. I called the police. I couldn't find the beat officer's number in my cell phone and the neighbors I called for it didn't have it handy; I could not remember the three digits for the non-emergency 1111 number. And by then, the little girl had poked her head outside the downstairs door.
The Ramsey County dispatcher used a voice anything but calm and reassuring. I told her that I had preferred to call my beat officer but had no number, and that the girl was now outside, and that I did not want to have a siren or car in front of the house. I had to say, 'are you listening to me?'. She was one of the worst dispatchers I have ever had...and yes, I believe I am counted as one of their 'habitual callers'. That building has had so many domestic violence and other calls in the last year or two. The owner says he knows and tries to maintain....I would need to talk with him more to find out what he isn't doing or what isn't working.
I see the little girl out on the sidewalk in front of their building. No grass, but she seems to dance more than run from on end of the building around the corner and back again. She waves her arms like a small Isadora Duncan. She never has any toys, but once I saw her with Mel.
Her parents (Mel said the man who hits her is her stepfather. I don't know the facts on that)seem to be invisible. I hear a woman occasionally upstairs, and a little boy, sometimes at the window. I've called child endangerment about the little boy - another neighbor and I have seen him lean out the window several times...and have called code enforcement about a screen that seems to often be torn. The screen has been repaired since the last time I called. The response from child services was less than enthusiastic 'you should call code about the screen. Yes, I have already, but I'm calling you about the child at risk. I don't know what we can do. Well, I suppose we can wait until he falls out the second floor window and hits the sidewalk?. Well I guess we can look into it.'
Last week I gave her a little lap harp I had, and a couple stuffed animals. I was told that the mother had been sleeping many of the times when the girl was outside. She used to be locked out, but now has door access at least. One never knows what happens in another's home. We can imagine the worst and stereotype or reach out, or we can want to believe the best so that we can close our eyes and ears against what our hearts tell us is really happening....and not get involved.
After I talked with the dispatcher, Mel asked me a couple times if I was crying. I told her no, I was just very, very angry with the dispatcher; very frustrated when someone doesn't listen. While we waited for the police the number of kids grew. I got them playing a little ball instead of waiting for 'excitement' and then got some onto my porch and involved in a checkers game. A few sat on the steps as if waiting for a show to start. I tried to turn their attention, telling them that though we need to call and act when something is wrong, it's not always what we think it is, nor is it respectful toward others to watch it as if it's a tv show. They asked me why I would say that, and I could tell them that, as a child, the police were at our door too often, and a couple of the reasons.
Mel has my greatest respect. Her uncle and grandmother tend not to want to get involved. They've lived in the neighborhood for years - Mel's uncle grew up in the house where Mel's grandparents continues to live. Mel's grandmother is very protective of Mel, and I appreciate that she didn't insist that Mel stay inside. Mel has been hearing the hitting and screaming for weeks or months. I don't know if anyone has called about that specifically, but Mel told her grandmother she wasn't going in until she talked with the police. Mel, you're my kind of community person; I pray that you will retain your strength of character and boldness in speaking up.
Several neighbors gathered on the sidewalk as I dug in the 'boulevard' flowerbed. As a few adults and kids tossed a football and dribbled a basketball among the others who chatted about plans for the weekend and some used furniture for sale, I was reminded why I love my Fourth Street neighborhood. There are divas, dramas, and we each at one time or another seem to evoke attitude or censure. We are a close knit neighborhood community.
As I was joining three friends for a glass of wine and a few minutes to check out one's newly rented house, my younger neighbor, about 9 years old - I'll call her Mel - approached me with her friend Alma and Alma's little sister (they were babysitting). Mel said, in her usual adult way, 'Sage, would you introduce us to the others, please?' I called out the other women and made introductions; then the three youngest had to go home.
Later, as I was working on the planting, Mel called me to the corner. She told me the little girl in the upstairs apartment was being 'hit again'. 'It happens all the time', she said; I hear her screaming a lot'. I called the police. I couldn't find the beat officer's number in my cell phone and the neighbors I called for it didn't have it handy; I could not remember the three digits for the non-emergency 1111 number. And by then, the little girl had poked her head outside the downstairs door.
The Ramsey County dispatcher used a voice anything but calm and reassuring. I told her that I had preferred to call my beat officer but had no number, and that the girl was now outside, and that I did not want to have a siren or car in front of the house. I had to say, 'are you listening to me?'. She was one of the worst dispatchers I have ever had...and yes, I believe I am counted as one of their 'habitual callers'. That building has had so many domestic violence and other calls in the last year or two. The owner says he knows and tries to maintain....I would need to talk with him more to find out what he isn't doing or what isn't working.
I see the little girl out on the sidewalk in front of their building. No grass, but she seems to dance more than run from on end of the building around the corner and back again. She waves her arms like a small Isadora Duncan. She never has any toys, but once I saw her with Mel.
Her parents (Mel said the man who hits her is her stepfather. I don't know the facts on that)seem to be invisible. I hear a woman occasionally upstairs, and a little boy, sometimes at the window. I've called child endangerment about the little boy - another neighbor and I have seen him lean out the window several times...and have called code enforcement about a screen that seems to often be torn. The screen has been repaired since the last time I called. The response from child services was less than enthusiastic 'you should call code about the screen. Yes, I have already, but I'm calling you about the child at risk. I don't know what we can do. Well, I suppose we can wait until he falls out the second floor window and hits the sidewalk?. Well I guess we can look into it.'
Last week I gave her a little lap harp I had, and a couple stuffed animals. I was told that the mother had been sleeping many of the times when the girl was outside. She used to be locked out, but now has door access at least. One never knows what happens in another's home. We can imagine the worst and stereotype or reach out, or we can want to believe the best so that we can close our eyes and ears against what our hearts tell us is really happening....and not get involved.
After I talked with the dispatcher, Mel asked me a couple times if I was crying. I told her no, I was just very, very angry with the dispatcher; very frustrated when someone doesn't listen. While we waited for the police the number of kids grew. I got them playing a little ball instead of waiting for 'excitement' and then got some onto my porch and involved in a checkers game. A few sat on the steps as if waiting for a show to start. I tried to turn their attention, telling them that though we need to call and act when something is wrong, it's not always what we think it is, nor is it respectful toward others to watch it as if it's a tv show. They asked me why I would say that, and I could tell them that, as a child, the police were at our door too often, and a couple of the reasons.
Mel has my greatest respect. Her uncle and grandmother tend not to want to get involved. They've lived in the neighborhood for years - Mel's uncle grew up in the house where Mel's grandparents continues to live. Mel's grandmother is very protective of Mel, and I appreciate that she didn't insist that Mel stay inside. Mel has been hearing the hitting and screaming for weeks or months. I don't know if anyone has called about that specifically, but Mel told her grandmother she wasn't going in until she talked with the police. Mel, you're my kind of community person; I pray that you will retain your strength of character and boldness in speaking up.
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