Hope Gardens by Night; Salemtown in the Morning

Thanks to our Hope Gardens friends Brian and Marie for having us over to celebrate their dog's birthday last night. S-townWife begged out due to exhaustion, but told me that decorum required me to go to represent officially the household delegation to the HG contingent. Their deck was a great spot to watch the CM Friggin'A fireworks (as opposed to having them wake me up the night before). And the flowing Dos Perros and Margaritas did not unsteady my camera hand one bit (well, maybe just a little bit; you haven't seen all of my photos).

This morning I was up bright and early helping my 7th Avenue neighbor Stephanie pick up trash on her street, 6th Avenue, Garfield, and Hume. I recommend that more S-towners participate in periodic Saturday morning trash pick ups. Not only do they help the neighborhood look better (we picked up three bags worth of garbage from just the streets and sidewalks alone), but they help us get to know one another and they are a great way to inventory other problems and code violations, like properties with tall weeds and illegal dumping (like the chartreuse market that practically dumps its own garbage in its back parking lot). Hopefully, we can entice a few more people to participate in the future.