Echoes of My Neighborhood, October Entry. Widening the Radius

A neighborhood with trees such as these, is a beautiful one indeed….

How far does your neighborhood reach?  On this beautiful October day, October 2nd, I got to experience a larger neighborhood reach.  Today I walked with some members of my church in the Cropwalk, a yearly event that raises funds and spreads awareness to stop hunger in other countries and in our local neighborhoods through an organization called Church World Service.

I live in a side of my town called Mandarin.  My church is located in Lakewood and is called Lakewood Presbyterian.*  (It is only a ten-minute drive for me when there is no traffic).  There’s a small area beyond that called Miramar, and then there’s San Marco, a beautiful historic area.  Our walk began in a church in San Marco, still, probably just a ten-minute drive from my church on a pleasant Sunday.  Simply an extension of my own neighborhood!  Never mind that the homes are a bit more expensive.  The land is a little more valuable, considering many of them have riverfront property and easy access for a boat entrance.  I just love our river.  Maybe you can tell, I also love these old, moss-filled trees.

The weather has been a lot less humid lately, but the temperatures seemed to be pretty high anyway.  Another reason one would enjoy such lovely trees along the roadway!  I was so thankful for their coverage as we continued our walk.

As we headed back to our starting point at South Jacksonville Presbyterian, I was amazed at what a perfect backdrop the clouds made.

Later, when I’d been back at home in my little neighborhood again, they peaked at me during sunset while I took the dog on his walk. I caught just the last glimmer of pink.

So, I suppose I widened the radius of my neighborhood quite a bit in this entry.  I’ve done that before, have you noticed?  It’s all part of my neighborhood, my world, my home.  Our church service today reflected on World Communion Sunday and the fact that we are all neighbors.  Perhaps these same clouds drifted past you in your neck of the woods.  I hope so; they were perfect.

It was such a lovely day, and I look back on it peacefully now, as my city is in the wake of Hurricane Matthew.  I truly hope I won’t have any outlandish stories to tell about it.  I prefer to be the author of outlandish fiction, thank you very much.  Please pray for us!

“Echoes of My Neighborhood” is a weekly blog challenge started by Jacqueline Obyikocha at her blog, A Cooking Pot and Twisted Tales.  One of her recent entries can be found at http://acookingpotandtwistedtales.com/2016/10/06/random-snaps-of-my-neighbourhood/ and illustrates her life in Dubai quite well!  Go and give it a look!

Having participated regularly over the summer in this blog challenge, I will try to join in every few weeks, or monthly, now that I’m back at work.  I am hoping my brief entry here has shown a little of what life is like in Northern Florida with the river, the sunshine, the Spanish Moss.  It all comes together to paint a lovely picture.

*Lakewood Presbyterian in Jacksonville’s website is lpcjax.org. If you are in the area, please give it a look!

 

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