It takes a village

It takes a village....to educate children, to make the world better, to do just about anything really. 

Until Luci came, I rarely walked in my neighborhood.  Since I've started walking, even just around my odd-shaped block, my village has expanded to include not only already-favorite neighbors but wonderful people who have lived here all along, friends Jan has often mentioned who were strangers to me. 

Two young men (young to me, in their 40s) came over during the February freeze and fixed a water leak.  Now I know their wives and children and dogs.

As Luci and I walked  last night, we listened to the cicadas, talked to neighbors, and even stopped to sit awhile with a man I'd never met before. 

After my surgery, some brought food; Jan and Freda walked Luci when they could; the man who built Luci's fence fetched and installed a car battery one morning when my car died; one who lives part-time in Santa Fe brings edible souvenirs back for Jan and me; another helped me get in line (back when lines were hard to get in) for the vaccine. 

It's like a small town really.  Neighbors greet each other by name and pet each other's dogs and advise on books and movies and the best dentist for a root canal.  

One, a physical therapist, asks me, "What's your range of motion in that knee?" 

As I've expanded my range of walking motion in the neighborhood and met so many kind people, old-timers and new-comers, I feel more grounded than ever in this village, more connected.  

Having a village of like-minded people is especially gratifying in these crazy times when Texas is leading the way backwards for women's rights and encouraging neighbors to report neighbors for a bounty.  We can't let that happen!  

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Meanwhile, out in Helotes, an hour away, Elena is riding and re-decorating her room.