Street Life

Did you play in the street when you were a kid? Sarah's getting the chance to.

Now that Spring is here and it's nice to be outside, the local kid street culture has become evident. I didn't realize how many of Sarah's classmates live on our street or near it. There are two boys across the street, whose parents we know well, then another boy next door. There's another boy and another girl up the street one way, and another girl the other way. And those are only the kids I know about so far.

Vancouver has alleys. Not all cities do. The alley behind the houses across our street is the local kid hangout. Kids run back and forth. They ride bikes, scooters, and skateboards. They do what kids do. And the parents know each other and know where their kids are, and often have to do little more than call into the alley to get them back.

I've never experienced this kind of thing before, and it's a little weird just letting Sarah run off where we can't always see her, but it's working out well so far.