Sunday, September 2, 2012

A walk through my neighborhood.


This is the first of my blog entries for my English 102 class at the University of Nevada, Reno. To my classmates: I'm simply writing what I feel I'll try to throw in some pictures in my entries since I am into photography a little bit.
To my professor: I sure hope this is what I'm supposed to do.
To all others: I don't know how you ended up here but you might as well read a few entries if you have time.

I'm at home for Labor day weekend and it feels great. Never thought I'd miss this place so much. This is my neighborhood. It's a small quiet one. Gardnerville is in a high desert so sagebrush is abundant with tumbleweeds here and there. For my classmates not local to the area Gardnerville is an hour south of Reno. Reno is the valley on the other side of Northlake Tahoe. Gardnerville is the valley on the other side of Southlake Tahoe. It's like Reno but much prettier and a lot smaller. In downtown Gardnerville  there are tall trees; our trees aren't very tall. My neighborhood is still new and on the edge of town with many years to come I can tell by the short trees. I always look at how big the trees are to know how old an area is in Gardnerville. It's not a traditional neighborhood. The houses are spaced apart on 2 acre lots creating empty spaces. The space is noticeable because the neighborhood is not as close in terms of friendliness. We don't have big block parties our anything like that. We rarely visit each other's houses It's not that anyone is really mean. I guess the one guy down the street on the left side with his big ugly white fence is mean, but he is the only one. It's strange how he is mean and his big ugly, white plastic fence is there. It is almost as if he is trying to separate himself because he doesn't like people. His fence matches his character. Ha what character! He has none just like his big ugly white fence. None of the houses are old so none of them have a lot of character. I think that old houses are the only ones with character. New houses are nice but they are just not the same. I feel safe in my neighborhood. I always have ever since I moved into my house in the 2nd grade. I came from Phoenix, AZ so moving to the little town of G-ville was a complete 180 turn for me. Since we are off the main drag I used to always ride my bikes around the streets with my buddies Taylor and Kevin. Taylor lives on my right and Kevin lives on my left. We used to be best friends all the way through about middle school. I never thought I wouldn't be friends with them. It's strange how people just grow apart. There is no tension or anything like that it just happens naturally. In high school I went through my neighborhood to get into town and hang out with friends. I always move though my neighborhood to get somewhere else. Usually to the mountains to ski or mountain bike or on school days I almost always took the same way out. The other ways were too long. I guess time was an important thing in determining my route. The main boundaries of my home are the mountains all around. Nevada is the most mountainous state. That was a quick fact for all of you who don't know that. The mountains on the west stand large and tall and are snowcapped for half the year and the smaller pinenuts are on my east. Job's Peak is the defining peak. Whenever you see pictures of Gardnerville you see that peak. Here is a photo I took from out near my house.This puts me in a valley. My safe little valley where it feels as if nothing can harm me and everything will always be the same ,but I know this just isn't true. They are building a Wal-Mart here so things are already changing. My impressions of the street are full of emotion. I love my neighborhood so much it will be difficult for me to leave and go up to Reno on Monday. It truly feels like a home. I actually really feel like this video I made for the high school talent show fits this topic perfectly. It's entitled From Point A to Point B and  documents how my friends and I always managed to get to the mountains from point A, our homes, to point B ,the mountains. If you want to watch it here it is.

https://vimeo.com/33429691

The Carson Valley Job's peak on far left

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