The Neighborhood Chronicles

The temperature rose into the triple digits today. Not a cause for complaints. Therefore, we didn't. Instead, we thanked God for a blue sky, green grass, hummingbirds and all that was beautiful and peaceful with our desert hideaway, though for the first time, peace was hard to find.

Someone took a knife to my spare tire this morning and left the cover in the grass beside--a disturbing beginning to this summer's day.

When evening fell, the cool breeze returned and when a measure of peace was restored someone managed to steal it away again. Neighbor to the right, Lady Peas to be exact, sat down on the sidewalk with me as we discussed the safety of our children. A driver in a white van suddenly stepped on the gas and came inches from my son who was sitting on his skateboard. Minutes later the van returned and this time skidded into a U-turn right in front of us and whisked away.

Tonight we saw, to our dismay, that someone might want to hurt us. To that someone we say, God is our protector and we shall not fear. But please, drive a little slower.