National Night Out

This post is a couple of days late, but I am writing nonetheless. Tuesday evening we hosted National Night Out, our neighborhood block party. I noticed a couple of things that I thought were interesting.

1) I have the uncanny ability to end what might otherwise be an interesting conversation.
It didn't seem to matter which neighbor I would join in a conversation with. There could be a group of people talking, laughing, carrying on... But, if I seemed to attempt to join the conversation, I simply had nothing to add. There would be awkward silence, and I would politely excuse myself to tend to picking up trash or tending to some made-up "need."

I really am a bit of a recluse. I occasionally try to be social, I'm simply inept. What I find really interesting about this idea is the fact that my youngest daughter is so like me in this way, that I really find it scary. There were a ton of neighborhood kids playing, but most of the time, I found Alison in her room or following me around content as can be to simply do her own thing. Maybe she is just as maladjusted as I am?

2) There are a lot of cyclists in my neighborhood
I have observed this somewhat in the past, but I thought about it the other night. There are two people around the corner who work at shops, one who has since moved away but regularly see visiting his parents. Couple of other neighbors who are regular commuters. This is not really a life-altering observation, I simply thought it was interesting.