Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

July Street Views

30 Day Blogging Challenge

PROMPT July 10th Go somewhere outside or where you can observe the happenings of the world beyond the walls of your home (looking out a window is fine). Spend at least five minutes watching and listening. What do you see, hear, and smell? Where does your mind wander when you sit quietly?

This would have been a great one to do yesterday because I walked Uptown to hang out for awhile outside Starbucks and later the Bauer Bakery and Cafe. I walked around to see what kind of life was happening in Uptown Waterloo and compare it to the quiet, disappointing aspects of Downtown Kitchener.

Living in a Twin City, you would think these two downtown areas would be similar, but they are vastly different. For one, Waterloo has made bathrooms available to customers in cafes and restaurants... that makes a big difference. Kitchener is still locked up. There are a few places open, but no bathrooms, making walking downtown not a great plan.

Kitchener City Hall is also taking this summer to dig up the huge water fountain in its front courtyard, making the area loud and dusty. That, added to the excessive heat wave we are having, is another reason to stay out of downtown.

Kitchener City Hall is the host of many summer music concerts all of which have been cancelled. Kitchener also has a more visible homeless situation, whereas Waterloo has more students (from two Universities - though students are mostly gone for the summer and Covid-19). I think there is also a creeping in of the drug issue... the City of Guelph (half an hour away) has a real problem with drugs in their core and I have a feeling that it is seeping this way. Cannabis shops are also cropping up... though the drug problem is associated with fentanyl.

But if I focus on today.... it's pretty quiet out here on my front stoop. I like it here - I can sit and watch the action on my street, but today the heavy heat is keeping most people indoors. The only people I have seen or heard are postal workers making deliveries or cars driving through on a short cut to avoid the lights at the corner of Westmount and Greenbrooke. The cicadas are also starting to wind up with their high pitched buzzing in the tree tops. With the heat wave, I figure they are singing a month early. The sun just hightailed it behind a greyish cloud... I hope we get another downpour. A little rain relief would be appreciated... though it is usually far more sweltering after it is done.

We did get that downpour later and it was glorious!!!!