Posted on Tuesday, June 5, 2012 by
Michael •
#BTV #VT – Good news/bad news in Burlington’s Old North End. First the bad… judging by the many recent Front Porch Forum postings, a string of yard and porch thefts is running block by block. Some of this stealing doesn’t amount to much, but other cases are hitting folks where it hurts. From Gloria…
I don’t have dogs or cats – or young kids – I live in a tiny little condo and get flowers in the Spring instead of spending money on Christmas gifts. My flowers are what I pour great love into. I love tending to them and how they make the neighborhood shine. Last night I lost six hanging baskets and a potted red phlox with a fragrance so sweet it could make you float. I had the police here this morning and the damage was so significant – financially and otherwise – I have taken some measures. Will be doing more. (We cried most of the day as it was a huge loss…)… One of the stolen hanging baskets was a rare kind – most fuschia are the “dark eyes” variety… A few days back I had Irises taken out of the ground in my front garden…
And from Gretchen…
Saturday night my husband and I were awakened at 2:30 by our dog barking. My husband ran downstairs to find our gate open and the zero gravity chair my family had gotten me for my Birthday was gone from our yard. We tried to chase down whoever was responsible (we were only minutes behind someone carrying a large chair) but we were unsuccessful. Things like this cut very deep into our community and leave us feeling vulnerable and sad. I like to trust my neighbors and I constantly wax poetic about the Old North End and the people who live here, but this puts a little chink in my armor. So if you happen to see someone who has newly acquired a lovely tan zero gravity lounge chair with a cup holder no less and they seem a little shady, please let me know, I would love to have my Momma chair back.
In the face of this trust-killing behavior neighbors are rallying. Some good news arrived today via FPF from Gloria again…
Today, just as I was about to begin a phone session with a client, an angel, dressed as a woman from Vermont, drove up to my home, got out of her car, and gifted me with an amazing, full, in-bloom fuschia hanging basket. I had never seen this person before in the 12 years I lived here, yet I was reduced to tears in a nanosecond and hugged her. She had heard of our losses from the other night and brought this beautiful plant to us to help us to know there is still good in people in world. She had a chair stolen (the same night the block was hit) that her family bought as a gift to her, and yet she came with this gift for us.
I want to express how much this gesture meant to us – and apparently to the hummingbirds in the area! Over the past few days we have been trying to replace/redo what was stolen…
Thank you for your beautiful heart, your generosity and please, please let me know if I can ever do anything for you. May God bless you and your family.
Posted in: Burlington, Civic Engagement, Community Building, Front Porch Forum, Knight Foundation, Local Online, MacArthur Fellows, Neighborhood, Neighborhood Watch, social capital, Social Networking, Stories, Vermont