The Street Survey

By Jim Hagarty

We live in an old part of town.

We have sidewalks on both sides of the street. Spare me a one-sidewalk street. There are streets in my town with no sidewalks. Yuk.

The population is mixed. Old to very young. Well off to just getting by. Working men and women, retired. Unemployed. There is a drug dealer down the street. I’m glad. Lots of cops driving by slowly.

But the best thing is, we live in one gigantic dog kennel. More dogs than people.

In other words, heaven.

There is a gated community nearby. No pets. No kids. No clotheslines. No lawnmowers on Sundays. I have seen livelier cemeteries.

Double yuk!

Author: Jim Hagarty

I am a 72-year-old retired journalist, busy recovering from a lifelong career as an unretired journalist. This year marks a half century of my scratching out little fables about life. My interests include genealogy, humour and music. I live in a little blue shack in Canada and spend most of my time trying to stay out of trouble. I am not that good at it. I also spent years teaching journalism. Poor state of journalism today: My fault. I have a family I don't deserve, a dog that adores me, and two cars the junk yard refuses to accept. My prized possessions include my old guitar and a razor my Dad gave me when I was 14 and which I still use when I bother to shave. Oh, and my great-great-grandfather's blackthorn stick he brought from Ireland in the 1850s. I have only one opinion but it is a good one: People take too many showers.