Day Drive on a Ordinary Day

   My oldest granddaughter Sara made this for me last week, Elizabeth has made one for me, Vinnie and the twins, this one was the easiest to get to. I love my grandkids, they melt my heart.
Today I went for a local drive. I had to be out to run a few errands anyhow so what the heck. I have lived in this town for 47 years and have never really explored it, until today. My oh, my there are some quaint little streets that I discovered, even found myself going down a one way street the wrong way!
    I never have had a reason to drive past the Lampas Ball Field, but today I decided that was what I was going to do.
I saw a lot of homes with porches and swings but no one was outside, not even kids, probably because they were at work.
    I drove slow so I could look at everything, I was not disappointed. There were many pretty porches and yards. I think people, both men and women love to plant flowers and have vegetable gardens,  It makes me feel good inside to see how other people enjoy the same things. It also makes me realize how we are all brothers and sisters in so much we mostly strive for the same thing.
      It made me smile to see how each house has it's own personality by the type of flags they have hanging outside from their porch, not just the American flag, (most people fly the American flag in our town). I mean the cute, whimsical flags almost everyone has hanging now a days. They come in all sizes and shapes. The first time that I ever saw this custom was in Boston, Mass., I didn't know what it represented until I asked. No earth shattering reason - just for their enjoyment.
       The custom didn't start here in my area until a couple years after it started in New England. I think I was one of the first to go out and buy a flag pole and flag to hang from my porch. The  selections to choose from around here are not that great, it's best to go to Volant, or Amish stores to find different ones, that's what works best for me. 
       As I was driving around, one house looked so darn inviting that I just wanted to park, go knock on their door and invite myself in.
I bet the inside was just as charming as the outside. I sort of get a idea of the décor inside when I see how the outside looks.
       I drove all the way down to Railroad Street but shied away from going down to the boat dock. I really don't know what it's like down there, but I will wait and find out when I am with Ron.      Railroad street has most of the businesses located there, like blue collar businesses. I didn't know we had so many in the area. I thought it was just Pittsburgh Paints and GENon, (I think that is the name, it use to be Duquesne Power Plant).
      One of the streets we lived on when we first moved here was Grant Street. The street had and still does have all duplexes. The one bad thing about living on that street was the fact that Duquesne Light Power Plant was right across the street and at that time I, nor anyone else could have a cup of coffee outside because the fly ash from the power plant would fall into our coffee, our hair, on our arms. If we opened our windows, the soot would cover the windowsill. I never hung my sheets out while living there.
They built a new power stack so I don't know if the fly ash still falls as it once did. But I have to say that it was one of the friendliest streets ever, everyone sat outside, neighbors talked with one another and kids played and had sidewalks to ride their bikes on.
You could borrow an egg or a cup of milk without even thinking twice.
    Our yard left a lot to be desired, it was just the size of a postage stamp but the friendly caring people made up for it. Ron & Brian were about 4 and 5 when we lived there.  Doug was born while we lived on that street, but two years after that we moved up to God's country where we still live, and that's where Jeff was born. I call it Clark's Summit because on a clear day you can see for miles and miles.
   I still want to explore more streets. I did not cover all that I wanted. But I enjoyed the drive and it was a different and nice way to spend part of my day.
   What would of made it even nicer?  - I should of stopped at Glenn's Custard !