In the 'hood

I have exactly ten minutes to finish this post before my haircut appointment so here goes nothing.

As you will no doubt already have deduced, I am getting my haircut this afternoon. I go to Deluxe Salon, which is about five minutes walking distance from the house. My stylist is Maria, and she's been doing both my hair and Michael's for nearly five years now; she's more of a friend than a service provider. On my walk over to the salon, I'll pass Betty's Speakeasy, home of the most delicious cupcakes and fudge in the city. If I have a moment on the way back I might pop in and chat with the owner, Liz, about the new condo developments going up across the street or about her new fall lineup of cake and fudge flavors. Then, I'll walk over to Penn (over the newly renovated South Street Bridge --- huzzah!) to hear a talk, and after that I'll walk back to Resurrection Ale House, the pub that's about a block away from my house. I know the owner and his wife, and have for years, ever since he was the bartender at the Nodding Head brewpub, another favorite haunt. I also know all the bartenders, as well as most of the waitstaff and the head chef, who made some delicious spicy pepper jelly out of the last batch of habeneros from my roof deck. Maybe I'll run into Reese, my contractor who's done some great work on the house and whom I met because we both were at the bar one night, or Wes, the guy who opened a new yoga studio a few blocks away.

My point? This is what life is supposed to be like. I love living in a city where these sorts of things can and do happen every day. I love that I have a neighborhood where I know my neighbors and the people who run the businesses around here. I love that I can walk to get my haircut, to get to the university, to get a drink, to get groceries. Everything I need is at my fingertips, or at least within reasonable walking distance. The shops and restaurants are small businesses, not big chains, and the people behind the counters are the owners or their dedicated employees, not surly college students looking to make extra beer money. I repeat, this is what life is supposed to be like. God save me from the suburbs, the sprawl, the car-based alienation, the oh-sorry-it's-after-10-so-everything-is-closed mentality. Viva la ville!