The Greentree City

So, K-wood is supposed to be the "tree city" of the state; and although they do have laws prohibiting the cutting of trees that are over a certain "age" they will cut down any tree that is relatively new. Go figure...

I woke up this morning to find that the three trees we had in our backyard (of our apt.) were cut to about seven feet in height, thus leaving them looking like some awkward totem pole misplace in a predominately white suburb. So much for natural shade; now we must pay more for our cooling bill.

Since working from home, I have been privy to the types of "goings on" around here. Since this is a bedroom community, no one else is around all day. And so I present the following picture (above). Yes, our tax dollars hard at work. Apparently this is how we roll in K-wood. Go tree cutters!

Happy (Safe) Halloween

Happy Halloween! That is Theron's skeleton photo, I believe it is called x-ray mode on my new phone/camera.
This year, since we had no trick-or-treaters, yet again, we decided to be the traveling candy giver-outers. Yep. We walked around downtown K-wood and handed out candy to all the cute little kids dressed in costumes. Of course, parents were skeptical at first, but when we explained that no one came to our "house" so we went out, they all loved the idea. We only traveled about two blocks from our apartment. Apparently, most kids in K-wood go to the big, old Victorian houses, maybe thinking the size of the house represents the kind and brand of candy given out...? Ha, we asked some "kids" (probably 15-16 years old) what they had gotten and they were not too happy with their Jolly Ranchers and suckers. We gave out whole Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and other brand-name candy, such as Snickers and 3 Musketeers. Needless to say, after about 20 minutes, our candy was gone.
However, we did do our good deed of the day. We came upon a little girl (turned out to have just turned 8 yrs. old) who was crying and running down the sidewalk. We asked what was wrong and she cried that she lost her parents and cousins and didn't know where to go. At first, I thought, well they are probably looking for you too. So we decided to walk around and look for her family. Luckily they had two baby strollers with them, so it was relatively easy to ask other adults if they had seen her family. One family pointed us one way and we went that way and found her relatives. However, much to my surprise/dismay, they didn't CARE that she was lost! They didn't even know it! In fact, when I said, "is this your little girl?" They reprimanded her and said, "where you been?!?" I explained that her older cousins (11 and 9 yrs old!) ran off and left her at someone's house. One of the sisters thanked me. Unfortunately, the little girl started crying again and they told her to "stay with them this time." Apparently not realizing that she was LEFT and didn't merely wander off. This was about 8:00 at night, in the dark, in downtown K-wood, i.e. cars on dark streets. I couldn't believe it. And, she didn't even know her own phone number. She did know her address, but was on the other side of town and noted that her sisters drove to this side of town to trick-or-treat, and she didn't even know where they had parked.

Up until this point, I felt that the sex offender laws for Halloween (i.e., can't have porch light on, cannot trick-or-treat with their own kids, etc.) were ridiculous and served the purpose of making parents' jobs easier (not having to watch their own kids). But, this little girl was clearly the victim of poor parenting. And for that reason, I suppose the sex offender laws so save children. Very odd Halloween!