Growing up all my life in Auburn, New York, I’ve always lived in the same house on the same street, and of course in the same neighborhood. As a result, I have grown to love and appreciate every aspect of it. Although this area of town appears to be a busy street with constant traffic, there are many different aspects that make this neighborhood an absolutely beautiful place to live in and enjoy.

To begin, one thing that most people see as their first impression of my neighborhood is the amount of cars that pass by all day every day, making it extremely difficult to back out of driveways on this street. All throughout the day the hum of motorcycles race by and the whizzing of cars as they pass make this area appear to be pretty noisy.. More often than most, you can hear the wailing sound of sirens as ambulances, and fire trucks flying by. On calmer days, multiple people will walk by on their phones or singing along to music, scraping their shoes across the concrete sidewalk as they pass. All day long, no matter the time, you can always hear the loud thumping of music coming from cars playing music so loud you can feel the vibrations in waves as they pass. Despite all these sounds that make my street appear rambunctious, there are many facets that make this a very comforting and peaceful area. Every afternoon you can expect to catch the stomps of the mailman walking up onto the front porches of each house, whistling while he works or the screech of the delivery truck stopping at each house. At night, you can hear the soft rumble of cars rolling by and the faint chirping of crickets as dusk approaches. As dusk arrives, everything begins to quiet down and become much slower throughout the entire neighborhood. On occasion, the laughter and faint music playing of neighbors throwing small parties around the block, giving off a “feel good” vibe to everyone within their vicinity. One of the best parts about living on this street is joyful laughter and screeching of children riding their bikes and the faint singing of birds throughout the day. Despite all the chaos throughout the neighborhood, the zooming cars and soft chirping of crickets eventually balance each other out, and I’ve come to love and find this place to be the perfect area to have home in.

Another aspect that makes my neighborhood seem so well rounded and wonderful is the area itself. Looking out my front door, I can see the majority of the street within the door frame. As I look out, I can see the sidewalk that seems to stretch for miles in all directions, trees lining either side with an occasional break in between where the road intervenes. You can always spot cars passing by, only briefly stopping at the stop sign before continuing forward. When the wind blows, the tree branches sway, and the bright green leaves rustling, occasionally some falling to the ground. Every morning the same neighbors walk by on their early morning walks their dogs panting happily and wagging their tails as they stop and say hello to each person they come into contact with. On occasion, the neighbor across the street sits on his rickety front porch singing and playing his guitar for the entire neighborhood to hear. On some of the best days, you can view a full clear blue sky with soft fluffy clouds floating by, and the sun gleaming through, shooting its bright rays in all directions. As the day comes to an end, you can witness some of the most beautiful sunsets from this neighborhood in the most intricate mixes of colors such as purples, oranges and pinks. At times, as the colors in the sky start to change through the clouds, the sky reminds me of cotton candy as the colors merge together. As dusk begins to slowly approach, everything seems to slow down and get quieter, appearing to make everything seem at ease and very calming.

Overall, both the loud and noisy to the calm and quiet aspect, help to make this neighborhood a well rounded and adaptable environment, while teaching me to love and appreciate everything around me. From the loud motorcycles zooming by at all hours of the day, to the beautiful sunsets in the summertime, to the lovely scent of campfires burning, all of this has helped me to be able to adapt to all living environments from suburban to rural, making this truly one of the best places to live in. This is home.