Got new batteries for my disability scooter and decided to cruise around the Hood to see how my neighbors are fairing in this goofy economy and crazy political climate. It was great to see people I haven't seen all Winter.
Lived in this Hood for 35 years. Seen lots of folks coming and going for all sorts of reasons. One even went out when his wife gunned him down with a Glock for beating her one too many times. They lived right across the street from my house. Many of the original neighbors are still around; probably never to leave, except in a box or an urn.
More, if your interested just below the Al Jazeera-like, curly thingamajig. What is that thing, anyway? Fleur du Cloud? Oh, well, more below the fold (Don't really know what below the fold means, cause you can't fold a digital diary, but what do I know?)
Granted, I drive around the neighborhood in my car, but not often. Gas is expensive. However, when driving I don't really get a chance to focus on the Hood. So, getting around on my scooter has advantages because it allows me to take in everything.
First a little observation of the Hood. I live in what is known as the International Zone. Supposedly, because the area contains all races and ethnicities. I don't think the city council should call it that, because most people in the Hood are Americans. Little too much political correctness, if you ask me. But, I am old. So old in fact, that I fart dust. But, I digress.
This Hood was built just at the beginning of World War II. Small houses with decent sized backyards, each house sharing a concrete block fence. The Hood was built to house those who were working at Kirtland Air Base (now known as Kirtland AFB & Sandia National Laboratories) and for when the war ended, it would allow returning veterans much needed housing and for them to start raising their families. Every house back then had flat roofs, which was standard in New Mexico and sided with stucco. Today, most still have flat roofs and all are covered with stucco. Pitched roofs started to become popular in the 1990s.
My little journey was an eye-opening and ear-tearing experience.
I couldn't believe the overall appearance of the Hood. Just two decades ago people had their roofs reconditioned every five years with new tar and pebble rock. New stucco applied every ten years. As I looked around at the houses and while talking to my neighbors, I learned that they wait until leaks get bad enough, that they have no choice but to fix the roof and just patch cracked stucco. The result are houses that the stucco color has faded, becoming stained and roofs rotting away in the intense heat of the high desert sun. Even the concrete block fences are cracking and falling down.
It was clear that people no longer made enough in wages to maintain homes they have had since the end of WW II. Some of my neighbors have kept up their property and added new pitched roofs, but the majority have not, through no fault of their own. Like me, many of my neighbors live only on Social Security. They are now trapped in poverty and their homes show it.
I had difficulty driving my scooter around. The sidewalks are not just cracked, but many have lifted up, ruining their original smoothness. Fire hydrants are rusty and I am sure many of them don't work as well as they did. Roads throughout the Hood are cracked and getting pot holes that are patched over and over.
Scooted over to the Hood's park, which is about four blocks from my house. It needs new grass, since there are many areas that are now just desert sand. The city did put in new playground equipment for children, but not as many as before. Even the basketball and tennis court pads are filled with multiple cracks. Fencing is falling down and the trees are old and dying. It was a beautiful park just ten years ago.
I noticed that most driveways had cars that averaged about ten years old, but there were some new ones too, but not as many as I used to see a decade ago. Yards that were once landscaped nicely with native plants, are sprouting weeds and brick paths are broken and scattered in lawns.
One of the things I noticed was how few undocumented immigrants there are walking to local businesses and around the Hood. The recession (let's be honest here; Depression) has taken a toll on them and they have left for who knows where. They found jobs within the Hood, but my neighbors no longer have extra money, that they can't hire them for stucco and roof work and general repairs like they used to do.
Perhaps the greatest surprise is how little crime there is within the Hood. It was never high to begin with, but there was always some. About all I see and hear about now is family disputes caused by the family facing financial difficulty and the frustration level reaches a peak that can't be overcome. Very sad.
Talking with my neighbors I find them either scared to death about how they are going to feed themselves or so angry at the government that they have lost all hope. They feel abandoned and can't understand why the people they elect don't do something to make jobs with good wages and help them out of the poverty they didn't bring upon themselves. They did everything right, played by the rules and tried hard. It should have been enough. It used to be, but they know in their hearts that things are not fair, like it used to be.
My Hood is typical of the whole city. I suspect it is the same all across the country. All I can think is that our country is a failure. A failure brought by predatory greed and elected officials that are corrupt and without a once of heart.
I traveled my neighborhood. I came home and cried. It isn't suppose to be this way. Our government has failed us.