Cul-de-sac races....

::imagnine a picture of a car::

We have had a very full day today....we went to the mall and shopped for a bit, did some sight seeing, had lunch at a Chinese buffet (jealous, Sully???? lol), and then off to some more shops. However, we were home in time for the car races that are held every night here in the cul-de-sac (cds from here on in, as it's a long word to type....)

My aunt lives in the end condo in a cds, and there is quite a group of people that live here. S is a lovely woman of 73, never married and had a government job all her life. K lives alone, and has never been married. His mother just passed away at the age of 89, and he is going to move into her condo and sell his. He has a schnauzer who is his "baby", and he takes him inside when the bigger dogs come out, with the promise of tv and treats. P was married for over 20 years and is now "playing for the other team". He is a character who is recouperating from a recent heart attack....sitting in his chair drinking gin and 7-up. Margaret is in the nursing home for a bit, after a fall that broke her hip, right after surgery, and David who was given 0% chance survival rate because ther were not an available liver....until one morning when they got the call that one had been found, and it was a match. He is healthy and happy now. And then there is my aunt who survived rolling her suv, being thrown out at 70 mph, suffering massive closed head injuries, 8 rods in one leg, 5 in the other, a broken neck, elbow, arm, lost her spleen....yet was walking and traveling with her work less than a year after her miraculous survival. (her doctor's words...."she shouldn't be here") She just recently fell and broke her arm just above and below the fused broken elbow, but dang it, she is dealing.

The group in the cds is known as the "survivors". Every evening garages open, lawn chairs come out, and they sit....laughing and talking, petting the various dogs and cats....and racing the cars. These are little matchbox-like cars that can be charged and run by remote control. As soon as we arrived, my aunt said wee one had to get one to be a part of the nightly fun....so off to walmart we went. Armed with a silver pickup racer, wee one has managed to beat all the guys....they love her. P said to me tonight, "That child just loves life, doesn't she?" They call the little piles of dirt the "sand dunes", the pebbles are "boulders", the pile of sticks and leaves is the "rain forest", my aunt's driveway is "Mt. Everest", and the pot hole is the "grand canyon". We went out around 7, and came in at 9:30.

It's like living in the past here. Sitting around, talking about the neighbors....their lives, kids, work. All of these people take care of one another. They actually care what happens. P went in to refresh his drink, and was gone over 15 minutes. K went to make sure he was okay, we wanted to make sure he didn't have another heart attack. It makes you feel good to see people that actually care about each other....that don't run into their homes and slam the doors at the end of the day, trying to avoid human contact.

I don't know if it's the neighborhood, or the mountains, or (more realistically), the fact that these people have all survived illness and accidents....and realize that life is for living. Whatever it is, it's fun and it's heartwarming....and it's a blessing to see.