A View From The Park

By Jill Hurst

A View From The Park

Our eleventh summer in Ferndale. Yes, eleven summers admiring our gardens, reading our lawn signs and occasionally re-hom-ing a chair from your garbage.

A drop in the rain bucket compared to all of you multi-generational lifers who are smart enough to realize there’s no reason to live anywhere else. Especially in the summer. Glorious gardens, festivals, food, close brushes with all kinds of nature. Big, annual events from The Memorial Day Parade to Dream Cruise weekend. And just when you think you’ve done it all you find out about Park & Read, and oh, the Electric Guitar Orchestra! I always hope that friends and family will stop by in the summer for a Ferndale sightseeing tour.

THAT SAID, I WILL BE SIGHTSEEING FROM MY FRONT PORCH THIS YEAR. My beautiful walking companion LucyHDog (her Twitter handle) is thirteen. She’s having some health issues. Our walks are shorter these days but we are planning to enjoy this summer. There is a lot of backyard time, but you gotta venture out into the world so I am taking my radio, my reading and my coffee cup…or wine glass depending on the time of day…and I am going to explore Ferndale from my front yard.

I don’t think I’ll be bored. There is a big tree full of “squirrel apartments” across the street. Pretty sure there’s some wild stuff going on over there. This is an election year, so the lawn signs are going to pop up soon and opinions will be expressed.

At first the limitations of staying close to home scared me. But it’s all about location and we live between the liquor store and the railyard. Tiny Fair Park, one of the best kept secrets of Ferndale (shhhh, don’t tell anyone) exists just beyond the “Dead End” sign at the end of our block. The noise from the railyard and nearby 8 Mile drag racing feeds my gritty urban soul.

The corner bus stop reminds me there is travel in my future. I am strangely excited about this very local adventure. There are some very cool people right here, just waiting for me to get to know them better.

MY YOUNG NEIGHBOR TWO DOORS TO THE RIGHT indulged me with a chat about the state of the world and the upcoming elections. His knowledge, passion and empathy gave me hope for the future. Three doors to the left, another young neighbor dug up part of their lawn and is starting a lovely garden. They placed a really cool cast iron bell in the middle. “I’ve had it for a while, but never had the right place to put it.” You gotta’ find the right spot. For the garden, for the bell, for yourself.

There are musicians on the block, so look for the “Silman Street SoundtracK” at the end of all this. Lucy, Abby and Molly-cat have a shared goal too. They want to see a chipmunk on this side of town. As far as we know, no chipmunk has ever traveled across Woodward to east Ferndale. But maybe, this summer it will happen.

So. I’m staying local. But listen, you should get out there. See the summer sights here in Ferndale. Aren’t we all so grateful for this fun, innovative, safe place to live and have adventures? But allow yourself a day or two on the front porch.

Then stop by to see us on our porch. Lucy loves company.

Happy Summer, Ferndale.