Monday, June 21, 2010

On the street where we live

Anyone remember "My Fair Lady"? Years ago when I saw the movie, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, I knew life could be that lovely. I always wondered if Eliza married Freddy... he was so in love with her!
I have often walked down this street before;
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before.
from the song "On the Street Where She Lives" 

The street where we live is changing. We live adjacent to citrus groves and we enjoy the luxury of a small neighborhood, rare traffic, and quiet nights. Our summer nights stay 10-15 degrees cooler because we don't have the summer heat island that burns after dark. In spring we suffer the lovely fragrant of orange and grapefruit blossoms. And around the corner, we pass two local citrus stands that operate all spring, selling freshly picked fruit.
 But now the orchards have been sold.
Houses are to be the next crop planted. 
The citrus trees are being pulled out by their roots, destroyed and removed from site. 
We are well aware that 45 years ago, the plot our house sits on was either part of the groves or on the road leading into it. 
Surely someone once grieved the loss of the trees. 
The citrus processing plants in town are closing. 
The land has been sold. 
Developers hope the housing economy has turned and new houses are needed. 
Our hands our tied from this point on. 
Our hearts are heavy.
Our hopes were once higher...
for the street where we live. The irony hits us hard, too.

15 comments:

Susan B. said...

Seeing your photo made me thing of the movie "Fern Gully: The Last Rainforest" and the monster machine that eats trees. It is a shame they don't try and work some of the trees into the new home lots.

Pat Tillett said...

So sad! Aren't there enough friggin houses already?
Eventually we'll be importing all of our food from other countries. Short term greed, causes long term losses..

Stella said...

My Mom gets real choked up over things like this. . .

Kisses,
Stella

MadSnapper said...

i am so sorry to hear this tale of woe and it is a tale of woe to me. my hubby and i were talking just this morning about how our city has changed in the past 10 years, and that we beleive the things they did just like this is why our world is rocking and rolling with fire, volcano's, earthquakes and floods. to destroy trees and pour concrete is how we ended up the way we are now. Florida was the worst at it and now you are following in our footsteps. it would seem to me we would learn from our mistakes.

Cyndi and Stumpy said...

It really does seem like Arizona is following the same path as California. so far, that hasn't ended well. VERY scary.

What will all these people who are buying and building homes drink?

I am so sorry for your loss. I have been through similar trauma, back east,when wetlands that never perked, all of a sudden perked.

The Retired One said...

I would be SICK over this...too bad you couldn't have afforded to buy at least a little strip of the land next to you, so you could save some of the trees next to your yard.

Banjo52 said...

I'm curious--how feasible would it be to live within the Phoenix city limits? Detroit, not so much.

We suburbanites have given away the cities, and I only partially understand it. So many of the old houses in town (whether it's Detroit or Mayberry) look great even now, but everyone wanted the wide open spaces of suburbia, including my parents in a sleepy town of 1700. Go figure.

But isn't it fairly accurate to say that's where everybody's citrus grove (or maple trees) went?

Detroit's new mayor, former hoops great Dave Bing, wants to knock down abandoned buildings and convert the lots to green space--parks, gardens, agriculture. I think it's an interesting idea, but it sounds very ambitious. If it works, Bing will be a genius. Or did Cleveland beat him to it?

How Sam Sees It said...

So sad! I've been in the valley so long that I still regret the loss of certain things.

Sam

Brenda's Arizona said...

Banjo, it is very easy to live in Phoenix - it has some lovely neighborhoods/residential areas. If you get a chance, check out some of the photos on Sharon's blog as :
http://phxdp.blogspot.com/2010/06/pueblo-style.html

The town we live in was settled by Mormons. Life here is much much different than in Phoenix... in many ways (we are not Mormon, and we feel the difference). Religion is a driving force behind city politics, local businesses, school boards, and neighborhood conversations. Totally different than Phoenix...

Barb said...

Oh - it does make me sad to see those trees being torn up! It looks as though your street will be changing. I guess nothing ever really stays constant - even if we wish it could.

Anonymous said...

Aw, no. And nothing smells so sweet and clean as citrus blossoms.

Kathy said...

Oh, progress.

I live in a lovely neighborhood in Phoenix that until 60 years ago was a pecan grove. I truly would like to see developers perhaps doing something about all the vacant abandoned homes all over the Valley before building new ones. I guess that wouldn't reap profits, however.

Susan Campisi said...

What a shame! I'm so sorry to hear that.

RoeH said...

If that's where I think it is, I have wondered many times when it was going to go. Then we get more houses, more pools....I hate it. And I loved that orchard!!

Tash said...

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
Sorry, you didn't need me to make you more upset. I hope the development will be nice.