View from the Corner

I see the house earlier and earlier as I approach the left hand turn to my Mom’s house in Pannaway Manor.  My new house is a neat white house situated perfectly so that it catches the sun from rise to setting.  A smallish home set amongst similar modest homes in a neighborhood unique for a multi-generational family presence.  Parents living in one house and sons or daughters sometimes live no more than a few blocks away.  Not common in Portsmouth as far as I know, rather unique and quaint for a city on the change.

The neighborhood has more than a few folks who’ve called it home for over 40 years.  The former mayor’s sister lives here.  Several guys with the public works department call this home and our streets are plowed early and often.  People walk the streets pushing babies and pulling dogs.  They wave at me when I drive by, I wave back.  We connect.

It feels a ways from downtown Portsmouth with all of its “new.”  The hood feels kinda frozen in time to a certain degree.  Some houses are selling and younger faces are visible at the playground during the summer months.  The neighborhood is changing over, being passed to the next generation.  It is a gift being passed on and I’m so grateful to be able to receive it.

Portsmouth means a great deal to me.  I identify as a local, a native.  Someone who is proud of where they come from and interested in contributing to the now.  I feel blessed to call Portsmouth home and to have such a view from my house on the corner.