I have lived in old houses most of my adult life....after a nomadic childhood living in post WWII military housing and the occasional 1970's split level or rancher with a carport....I find myself drawn in spite of above average intelligence to OLD houses. Presently, and for nearly 17 years now, I have lived in a 1906 Neoclassical Victorian. Prior to the 1018, I lived in an American Four Square on Luttrell, and a Bungalow on Armstrong. The family that Mike and I purchased 1018 from had owned this home for 40 years! SO, we got lucky. Another time - another post....the great adventure of old house renovation.
TODAY, however, I have just gone on my usual walk...using the wonderful sidewalks of Old North Knoxville and Fourth and Gill neighborhoods to walk thru history in Knoxville. I love these sidewalks and have spent literally a million hours pushing strollers and my baby jogger, jogging alone and with my kids and Mike up and down these lovely tree lined streets.
I am going to list some things I love about living here.
1. Having legit sidewalks - not the pretend ones that you see in the burbs....these sidewalks still provide legit paths for many folks living downtown that do not own cars or bicycles. In 2012, it is hard to imagine that there are actually people who do not own cars, but in my neighborhood (thanks to a rent subsidized apartment complex and a few shelters), I am reminded not everyone has a car. I am grateful that I do - but sometimes wish I did not need one for my daily life.
2. The number of churches in my neighborhood. I walked past 6 churches in less than a 3 mile walk....and all of these churches have been here for the better part of the last 100 years. In fact, one of them, Central United Methodist was my Granny Dot's girlhood church. Pretty cool to walk past it.
3. Speaking of Granny Dot, my Dad's mother, Dorothy Jensey Maxey Massey was raised on Morgan Street in Fourth and Gill. She was one of the first (if not the first) FEMALE cheerleaders at Knoxville High School. I NEVER walk past the corner where her house once stood without thinking about her. What an incredible gift to remember her so often, She has been gone for 19 years.
4. Knox High School is on the far end of Fourth and Gill...Knox County Schools still uses the building. We even have a savings account at the Knox County Federal Teachers Credit Union. They are so friendly there.
5. Street lights. I love them. I am always surprised that most suburban neighborhoods don't have street lights.
6. I adore front porches! I love walking by and seeing people on their porches, I love seeing the furniture on the porches. In both Fourth and Gill and Old North people use their porches as living spaces. I love to sit on my porch swing and watch the clouds roll by or a summer thunderstorm roll in.
7. I also get a kick out of the porches that serve as messy storage units for tenants - not all my neighbors are decorators. Sometimes you can not tell if people are moving in or out or just ran out of enthusiam for the unpacking. Some porches have the tools of the current renovation on them....it is fun to think what the owners are doing to the house.
8. What people do outside here. I saw several neighbors walking their dogs. I saw a young couple on their front lawn. She was cutting his hair while their dog lounged on their sidewalk. It was very sweet. They did not even notice me, they were so into each other and the haircut.
9. The Love Towers (the subsidized apartments) have a community garden. There is an older black woman who is always out in the evenings...she is always wearing a long sleeved shirt and long pants and a big straw hat, usually she is holding a garden hose, watering plants. AND she is always telling the other resident gardners what to do. I love this woman. Seriously, I have seen her out there for as long as I can remember them having a garden at the Love Towers.
10. I love Central Avenue.....Happy Hollow - the little area on Central Avenue that is home to a few new businesses...like Chop Shop hair salon, the Time Warp Tea Room (biker tea room?), the Tai Chi place, the Relix Theatre and Central Flats and Taps (my new favorite bar). I love Magpies, Central Books, and the Glowing Body yoga studio....KnoxTenn Rentals and the Tastee Freeze...and Three Rivers Market (the new Food Co-op) and the KenJo. I love these places. I even miss the Corner Lounge (now Central Books)...they had cheap beer, and interesting local live music...
One more...
I love that in my neighborhood, we have a Saint Tattoo, the famous Fellini's Kroger, Fulton High School, and St. Mary's Hospital (it will never be TennNova to me).
AND, my house. I love living here. I love that I raised my kids here. I love it. I do.
Happy last day of July 2012.
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