These are the people in your neighborhood

The other day, riding home on our tricycle (Jonah on my shoulders) we bumped into a neighbor tending her garden. She had said Hi to Noah on other occasions. But that day we weren't "late" getting home because Noah doesn't have to go through rush hour anymore, and this neighbor was very talkative. Noah asked her tons of questions about plants and why she was watering them and why why why.

But she also asked questions like, "Have you named your bike? I named my truck." And so Noah actually was talking about this a few days later. What should he name his bike. Did he have to name his truck? Maybe he only wanted to just name his toys but not his truck. 

He even got to look in the backyard and learned, from another person, from another perspective, from another persons voice, about plants, and water and sunlight.

It's important to not only hear one explanation of things, but many explanations of the same thing, even if they are similar. 

It was a very Mr Rogers type moment.

I realized that, if you grow up in the projects you are less likely to have this opportunity because everyone sort of has a uniform outward appearance. A "lawn" that does not actually belong to them and which they do not actually maintain. They might to something unique in their backyard. But you won;t see it. My mother did very unique thing switch her porch. And children, my friends, would ask her about it, or people would mention it, but you wouldn't just be passing by and shout up at someone sitting on their porch questions about the plants they were growing. Well you would be less likely to that's all.