Alley Magic

It took us a while to understand the magic that comes with living with a city alley. The benefit of having the large dumpsters and yard waste bins was immediately apparent, but some of the other traits took longer to sink in. This past week, I found a new appreciation for the alley ‘recycling’ system.

We have learned to use the alley’s special vanishing magic. For example, last summer, Mary was helping us to organize the basement. Some items that we moved into the basement, such as my extensive collection of clay flower pots, no longer made sense to keep, especially the ones with the big cracks. Mary suggestion was to not put them in the dumpster, but to place them along side the dumpster. Within hours, they had vanished without a sound. We now understand the protocol. Tom took advantage of the metal scrappers that roam the alley when we removed a bunch of pipes from the basement. We have since ‘recycled’ many things- the Alley Taketh Away.

This past week, the Alley Gaveth. I guess we’ve placed enough offerings to the alley, that we are now worthy of reward.

This will come in SO handy!

We took a break to take Lucy for a spin around the neighborhood and we came upon an abandoned grocery cart in an alley. We checked it out- no identifying features, a few broken wires, but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. I was thinking of all the trips I’ll be making from our storage room, at one end of the B.A.B. to the apartment at the other end, carting bulky things like the bread machine and the stand mixer, and how great it would be to have a cart!

It was more than a tad Hoosier to be pushing a beat up grocery cart down the sidewalk and Tom and Lucy walked several paces ahead of me. I held my chin up and joined the Circle of Life that is the city alley. I’m excited about it!