“It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.”

—  Fred Rogers

It’s easy to drive through our neighborhoods thinking about the day ahead or the day behind us. It’s easy to take a walk to our favorite park without thinking about the houses we walk by. It’s easy to take our neighborhoods for granted.

But I think a home is more than just a house, it’s the land around it, it’s the streets that run by it, and it’s the people who live nearby. When we talk about being home, we’re not just talking about the house, we’re talking about the trees, the businesses, the streets, the parks, the houses, and most importantly, the people.

To treat our neighborhood as just a street is easy, but it’s unsatisfying. There is no connection. Yet, when we start to look around and take ownership and pride in what we see, we connect with our neighbors, we know their kids and our house becomes a home.

Getting involved in a home owner’s association, volunteering in the neighborhood parks, talking with your neighbors or picking up trash is a great way to say,

It’s my neighborhood, too.

Pushed a shopping cart from the street back to the local grocery store. Picked up a bag of trash. Took my kids and two neighborhood kids to a local rec center. It’s my neighborhood too.