Alley fun

One day we we visited a friend and spent some time playing with the kids on the alley. What fun! Alleys are the sneaky places that have hiding spaces and nooks and crannies that all city kids love to visit. As I kid we played in our alley with the neighbor kids... hide and seek, pirates, store, and more. We loved our alley. There seems to be an unwritten rule that alleys are sort of private, that it is snooping to drive down other people's alleys, so outsiders stay away. We knew everyone who drove there. They slowed down, waved, even offered a glass of Kool-Aid later in the afternoon. Everyone knew us.

Times have changed a bit. Because of the way our house is situated on a triple-wide lot and only 2/3 deep, we aren't on the alley. I miss it. We don't know our neighbors across the alley because we don't have access to it, other than the views from our 2nd story windows. I realized how much I miss it when our neighbors were over recently and said that Carl could cut through their yard on his way to kindergarten next year. Of course! We always cut through the neighbors' yards to get to the next street. We knew the sneaky-est routes, who had dogs, where the lavender and dark purple lilac bushes were, who minded us sneaking and who welcomed us. Ahh, the fun of a city alley.

I was in heaven on our alley play date. We flew kites, both store-bought and homemade (a plastic grocery bag and a piece of yarn go a long way!) and chatted with the over-the-fence neighbors. Just look at how happy all the kids are.
Did Louise lose a hand in the alley? She's an alley-pirate, I suppose. Where's the hook? Arrgggh, matey!
Catching a little sunshine, Miss Weez.