Neighborhood Problems

A group of neighbors got together last night to discuss a problem in the park. I will preface this discussion by saying that it will be easy to conclude that this is a bunch of complaining white people. I'll give you that. It does not diminish our right to complain.

The problem is this. There is a group of people who have been coming to the park nightly. I think they are essentially one family with it's various offshoots. They are from the Marshall Islands.

When the weather is nice, they start to arrive about 5:30 and they go to the same spot. They set up a Volleyball Net and they have a great time until about 8:30 when they shut it all down.

None of this is a problem. They certainly have every right to be there and enjoy the park like anyone.

The problem is that they are there every night. They are not very good at cleaning up after themselves. They leave small amounts of random garbage and scattered chicken bones. They are slightly loud. They sometimes tie their net to freshly planted trees. They often drape clothing over the freshly planted trees. Their shear number and repetitiveness is starting to show on the lawn.

As neighbors, we decided we are going to approach them and politely ask that they rotate their location. The neighbors who are most affected by this group, Erez and Diane cannot sit on their front porch and enjoy a peaceful evening. They don't want them to leave, they just don't want them in that spot every night.

All we can do is ask.

We all realize that we have not much ground to stand on. We live on a public park. People, any people, can come to the park. Frankly, we welcome them. It is really wonderful to watch what a good time this family has.

Anyone of the items listed above is not a problem...except the litter. Together, they are a concern and the meeting last night was a group of neighbors from all around the park who wanted to address it before it gets out of hand.

Anyway, a group of us will approach them at the next opportunity we have. Considering the weather and the forecast, that could be a while.

I checked my little weather station this morning and a quarter of an inch of rain fell over the night. It is raining pretty good right now. More is coming. It will be a FABulous Memorial Day Weekend.

I shall end this White Devil diatribe with what a fellow blogger I know calls a Cyber Tree.

This is a Dogwood Tree located at the east end of the park. It will only be in bloom like this for a couple days more. It stands out like a giant pink sore blooming thumb among the greenery around it. It is really quite stunning!