Sometimes it's the little stuff, and sometimes it's the really, really big stuff

Today was a big kind of day.

As part of Global Youth Service Day, a local private high school selected our neighborhood for a clean up. As the neighborhood representative, I had to handle all the logistics (the teachers, thankfully, handled the kids). We had over 100 sophomores sweep through our streets cleaning up garbage along the roadways, in empty lots, dilapidated buildings, and at four separate dump sites (where people outside the neighborhood deposit all kinds of ugliness in our alleyways and dead ends). In three hours, these kids collected at least two tons of garbage.

Like I said, it was a big kind of day.

For those of you (probably most of you) who don't live with this level of littering (I almost hate to use that word because "litter" doesn't quite encapsulate the scope of our garbage problem), I'm not sure you can imagine the impact this has on my life and the lives of my neighbors. It's huge, really huge, huge in a way that brings tears to my eyes.

I have so much hope, and sweat, and love and anger wrapped up in this place we call home. Today, we won one for the neighborhood. We won one for the earth. It's probably the biggest Earth Day present I've had the good fortune to deliver.



Big or small, I hope your Earth Day was good.

Sunday

At the races...



Craig was tasked with checking the entries for safety (brakes, steering, helmut).



Most were in working order.



But at least one was still in the construction phase.



Eventually we went to find seats.



The drivers walked their cars to the start.



And waited for the flag.



There was a great crowd. Families, couples, singles, and a number of dogs.



With the great weather, there was also a lot of skin on display.



Finally, the cars started to move.



One didn't make it more than 10 feet and had to be carried to the finish line.



We made it through most of the competition until we were finally informed: "I'm soooo bored."



So we went home. But for us--for Macon--this was a lot of fun, and a great way to spend our Sunday afternoon.

For all images, go here.

3 seconds of fame at Beall's Hill Community Garden

Did you spot Julia? She spent most of the planting attached to my leg--that is until her partner in crime and neighbor, Sofia, showed up. Sofia tried to entice Julia to walk through the newly planted beds, but Julia didn't take the bait. Read the full story here.

the dirt

There's an explanation for the dump truck images now visible in my flickr badge. Introducing our latest neighborhood adventure: Beall's Hill Neighborhood Garden @ Centenary. Go check it out (but be gentle, it's a work in progress).

From the community organizing corner...

The following pertains to an ongoing source of neighborhood tension. As the newly elected neighborhood association president (something you get drafted for and do not seek out) I have finally decided that enough is enough. The gloves are coming off and I am going to stand up to shout my voice...

Dear Coach (name withheld),

As president of the (name withheld) Neighborhood Association, where some of your players live, I wanted to let you know about our latest meeting. We all expressed gratitude that your players participated in the neighborhood cleanup in October. It was nice to see a huge group turn out, all of them on the baseball team. Well done!

Unfortunately, there were many voices of concern over the future of their rented property on (name withheld) Lane. It was pointed out that it's not unusual for there to be 10-13 vehicles (mostly trucks) parked all around their house, including in the front/side yards and the public park adjacent to their parking pad. The grass around the house is dying and turning to mud, even in the public park which is not on their property, and in fact, is owned and landscaped by the (name withheld) Development Corporation.

I have had a terse conversation with one of the tenants, and they have known for several weeks that they are not supposed to be parking on public property. Unfortunately they continue to park on the sodded lawn. Very recently their landlord, (name withheld), reminded them about their parking incivilities. However, when I came home from the opening banquet of scholarship weekend tonight I noticed one of their vehicles parked on the neighborhood park's grass. Still they continue to park there! Every month I attend the (name withheld) Board of Directors meeting which is presided over by the mayor and our president. The parking situation was brought to the attention of the board, and I believe someone from the mayor's office will be paying them a visit, if not already, then soon.

I would like to add that when I stopped by on a Saturday morning (9 AM) a few weeks ago to explain that the landscaped grass they were parking on was not their property, there were 9 trucks and SUVs parked around the house and 6-7 guys laying around the living room. It turns out only one of them actually lived there, and the other 6 were visiting either from campus (3 blocks away) or from out of town, all in their own vehicles. The lone resident appeared sympathetic to my request that they stop parking on the neighborhood park but insisted that they need to have parking for their friends who come over. I pointed out to him that the houses in (name withheld) neighborhood were built for families and other owner-occupied domestic situations. As such, parking is minimal. Each house has parking for 2, maybe 4 vehicles at maximum. However, in the case of those living on (name withheld) Lane, the 6-7 trucks owned by the renters already overburdens the alleyway and common driveway. These new houses in the neighborhood were not meant to be serve as communal dwellings, and they should ask their visitors to walk or carpool over. When the cars of girlfriends, friends from the dorms or fraternities, and those out of town buddies are added nearly every weekend, the result is a SNAFU of their own making. There are four families and 2 elderly residents who are detrimentally impacted weekly by their actions. There is also the unintended consequence of dissuading potential buyers of other new properties in the surrounding blocks.

I ask you to please speak with them again so that they understand this is a grave matter to the home owners invested in (name withheld). The ambition of our neighborhood association is to revitalize this historic area with home ownership thereby creating a family-friendly atmosphere right at the University's front door.

Thank you again for turning players out for our cleanup and for speaking with them several months ago.

Sincerely,

Craig

--
Dr. Craig D. Byron
Dept. of (name withheld)
(name withheld)University
(name withheld) Ave.
(name withheld)

Office Hours, (withheld)
phone# (withheld)
fax# (withheld)
email- byron_cd@(name withheld).edu

Bear Bike Update

Greetings all,

Boy, the Blog has really evolved into something unique. Since I'm only an infrequent contributor, I feel like each time I login to write a post either the readership has grown or there has been a long gap separating me from my last passage. I wanted to include a link to an article in today's (October 20) Education section of the New York Times.

Mercer's Bearbike program is mentioned as well as a quote from an interview conducted with a Biology Department colleague (who is also Grace's big-time buddy, Allan). The Bearbike program is finally getting a little publicity. Unfortunately we are not sustainable yet since we don't have a team of undergraduates to act as mechanics maintaining our small bike fleet. Hopefully the University is close to a financial commitment to really get this program going. All last week we had consultants in Macon to help design a traffic engineering solution to link Mercer's campus and downtown Macon. I'm excited to report that this plan will include bike lanes.

I still have a post to write about our litter cleanup from over the weekend, but I can report that we now have quantitative proof that the neighborhood is significantly improved with respect to litter incivilities. It was a big success and there should be WMGT-NBC footage. I will post it when it becomes available.

Regards,
Craig

Buddy Walk

It was gray, misty, and cold, but Team Whitney was there! While Craig was busy leading a neighborhood clean-up, Grace, Julia and I were playing and walking at the Middle Georgia Buddy Walk. With help from our sponsors we exceeded our financial goal, woo-hoo. Big thanks to Mary Ann & Dave Michau, Sarah, Andy & Murdoch Suthersons, Heather Gray & Steve Mann, Kathy & Dick Stadler, Lynne & Dan Byron, Sandra & Marv Williams, Mark & Vicki Phillips, and John Stadler,

Grace was a little upset when we first arrived at the walk because Whitney and Anne were nowhere to be found. Thankfully, a moonwalker got her attention, and she forgot her tears. Next October we hope to join forces with Whitney's Warriors for a buddy walk in Indianapolis. For pictures of our morning, go here.

Typical Macon Day

As usual, today has been one continuous blur of events from taking Grace to school, to teaching a class, to mentoring a research student, to picking Grace up and coming home for lunch, to mentoring 2 more students (although one was the same as from the morning session), to rushing to the Planning and Zoning Office to try to submit a plan to build a fence on our property, and finally getting to check e-mail and try to advance half a dozen other agenda items currently on my to-do list. It looks like it will be another late night.

Delivering the fence plan was actually very typical when it comes to administrative tasks in Macon. I arrived with our very professional looking letter and plan diagram, etc... only to find out that the deadline was at noon. After consulting with people on the phone and online it seems I never realized there was a time deadline or that there was other paperwork we needed to cover. We must now wait a month before the Design Review Board can meet to consider our application. I suppose this is just how these kinds of things work.

Tomorrow I am traveling to Athens, GA to deliver a talk to University of Georgia's Undergraduate Anthropology Society. I am thrilled to go since I always enjoy the opportunity to lecture people. (That is meant to be a joke, but is especially funny because of its truth.) Also the visit comes with a small monetary honorarium that will probably be spent on fuel to get to Athens and back.

Wish me luck!

Craig

Bike Week Ride Map

As if the blog could not get any more exciting, I am now going to officially announce our bicycle route for Mercer Bike Week starting Monday. For a link to all scheduled events with a map and a figure legend, click here. Below is an interactive Google Map that you can use to explore downtown Macon.


View Larger Map

Mercer Bear Bikes set to Launch

I wanted to share the exciting news about Mercer Bike Week. Another colleague and myself have designed a bike share program set to launch on Monday the 24th. This program, "Bear Bikes", is modeled upon other bike share programs found across the country. Mercer faculty, staff, and students will be able to use any bicycles from the Bear Bikes fleet using their ID card. The bike fleet has been assembled using reclaimed bicycles and the hard work of several students. Each bike is painted orange, comes with a helmet and lock, and is tuned-up for public use.

The program is in part designed to promote daily bicycle usage in order to commute around campus and nearby downtown Macon. In support of this effort, Macon's College Hill Corridor Commission has joined us with financial backing and some event planning. They have arranged for downtown restaurants to offer lunch specials to customers arriving on bike next week. There will be a different restaurant special each day and riders from Mercer will make the daily commute. Today, a small group of us took an inaugural ride in order to prepare for any difficulties we may have with leading up to a dozen riders through traffic into downtown Macon. I intend to keep this blog updated with frequent updates of the Bike Week events.

Craig

What I could have titled this post

Before I get to my list of titles, you, dear reader, should know that Craig and I truly love where we live. We have a great house, and we have good neighbors. There are days though when the poverty, addiction and waste that pervade our neighborhood overwhelm me. I have always thought of myself as a liberal; one who espouses progressive ideals, a champion of the underdog. Spend a day with me in Macon and you will understand how that identity is challenged by the very emotions my neighborhood and its inhabitants evoke.

With that in mind, here’s my list:

Who are the people in my neighborhood?

We need to get the heck out of Dodge!

In which my bleeding heart stops beating

In which I curse a lot to feel better

Dude, that’s my lawn.

How come everyone I see is either drunk or nuts?

Are we freaking crazy to live here?

Poverty sucks!

Disabused of the notion of the American Dream

Caught between a homeless shelter and a free church breakfast


Yesterday as I was about to leave the house to run errands, I watched a man, trashed beyond belief, pull out his equipment and urinate as he was walking down the sidewalk outside my house.

What the #$%@!

Although previous offenders were more discrete, this isn’t the first time I’ve watched someone do such a thing. Urinating outdoors--in full view--cuts across boundaries of race and age in Beall’s Hill. As far as I can tell the only limiting factor for this behavior is sex (I haven’t seen a woman pull down her pants, as of yet).

I did what I always do under those circumstances; I called Craig to the door. He chased the man down to tell him in no uncertain terms that his behavior was unacceptable. Even though his pant leg was wet and his fly was down, the man didn’t even know that he had urinated. He didn’t know it.

What are we supposed to do with these experiences?

We laughed—even though it wasn’t funny. We cursed—even though the man was addled and addicted. I cried because my two babies were playing in the living room, oblivious to need. I felt lost because this event isn’t isolated to my neighborhood. There’s not one place I can drive to in Macon where I don’t pass prostitutes (male and female), addicts, the homeless, and the insane. This isn’t a once a week occurrence. It happens daily. On my drive to Grace’s school in the morning I see at least three bag ladies; all of them certainly psychologically disturbed. At the supermarket, I am regularly approached with offers to pay for my groceries with food stamps in exchange for cash. And on Sundays, we watch as clusters of people migrate down the middle of our street toward the free breakfast offered at Centenary Church. For some this is their only meal. For others it is a free meal, a chaser after a night of drinking. A half hour later, we will watch them retreat back up the street, leaving the detritus of their meal, styrofoam cups and plates, to accumulate in our yard.

I am left with unanswered questions. How do you help the helpless? What happens to the disenfranchised and disengaged as our neighborhood progresses and improves? Why are there so many living on the edge? Why do I want to run so badly?

My brother Matt, a recovered addict himself, gave me some advice a few months ago when he said “If I approach each day with a little gratitude, I find that everything, from the mundane to the complex or difficult, is easier to handle.”

Right now I’m reaching, deep down, looking for gratitude.

the western edge

Mercer's alumni house (pictured above) sits at the western boundary of our neighborhood. When Craig came to interview, this is where he stayed. Little did he know that he would be offered the job or that we would buy a house just two blocks from his lodging.

Mercer's role in revitalizing our neighborhood can't be understated. As I wrote about earlier the University gave us a forgivable second mortgage for settling here, and remains one of the key partners (along with the Knight Foundation and the City) working to ensure the neighborhood's success.

This wasn't always the case. In the 1980's and early 90's, faced with increasing crime and blight surrounding the campus, Mercer erected fences and became quite insulated. Memory is very long in Beall's Hill, and to this day some of the long-standing residents still harbor suspicions about Mercer's intentions.

In a recent conversation a man told me that Mercer intended to purchase the entire neighborhood and turn it into student rentals. When I disagreed with him, he told me that I didn't know Mercer. Obviously this is a hurdle that the University must continue to overcome.

My Top Ten

I heard from my mom this morning, and she finds my posts about the neighborhood to be a little depressing. I guess they are, but living with a mix of poverty and progress is my reality these days (aside from sick children, that is). She wondered why I hadn't posted any pictures from the new houses that have been built, so I'm going to remedy that right now.





In addition, I thought I would post my Top Ten Reasons for Living Here:

10. A Network for Revitalization. We know that revitalizing this neighborhood is a priority for the city of Macon. There are multiple organizations working hard to ensure that this neighborhood is a success. These include the Landbank Trust, the Housing Authority, Mercer University, Historic Macon Foundation, the Knight Foundation, and Centenary United Methodist Church (to name a few).

9. Mercer Functions. From plays to concerts to basketball games, we have only a short walk to take advantage of the many programs that Mercer offers. We have listened to concert pianists and choirs at no cost (talk about a cheap date).

8. Tatnall Park. Two and a half blocks from our house is the second largest city park in Macon. I take the girls there regularly. Being able to walk to the park is a huge benefit.

7. The Money. As an incentive to buy in the neighborhood Mercer gave us a forgivable second mortgage for 15 grand. Each year three thousand of that is forgiven. In addition, the state of Georgia provides a five thousand dollar tax rebate for living in a rehabilitated historic property, and our taxes are frozen at historic levels for nine years.

6. Schools. Two blocks from our house is the top rated elementary school in Bibb County. Alexander II is a Math and Science Magnet school (though it scores at the top of the charts for all disciplines). Because we live in this neighborhood we are given preference for Grace to attend Alex II. We couldn't hope for a better elementary school education for her.

5. Community. From the moment we took possession of this house, people in the community reached out to us. On countless occasions people in and out of the neighborhood have expressed their appreciation for our commitment to living here. We know all of our neighbors. We talk to them on a daily basis, and we look out for eachother. Not since I lived in the UP have I had such a sense of community.

4. Living our Values. Prior to living in this house Craig and I often dreamed of living in a neighborhood with diversity (in both color and class). It's important for us to raise our children with a sense of the haves and have nots. Our neighborhood provides daily teachable moments on these topics, and we do feel as though we are living our values.

3. Location. Given what I have posted some people may find this reason a little crazy, but it's true. Location is a great asset for our family. It takes Craig seven minutes to walk from our front door to his office. He comes home for lunch nearly every day. With work so close, we have been able to sell our second car.

2. The house. I may never again live in a house with this much character. We have the old charm of 11 foot ceilings and heart of pine floors, BUT the house has been completely rehabed. This means things like the 7 foot windows in the front room are brand new, and so is the heating/cooling, plumbing and electric. We could not have afforded this house in any other neighborhood. A different location would easily add 50,000 to the price tag.

1. Each of the reasons above contributes to our success and happiness as a family. With two small children I can't think of a better place to be. Craig is so close that I never feel isolated, and our cost of living is so low that I am able to be at home with the girls. Staying home makes our lives run smoothly. In short, it contributes to a general sense of well being and happiness. For someone who battles depression, I can't think of a better number one.