The View From My Morning Cup of Tea

This is what I look at while working at my desk in the morning.  The only difference in the afternoon is the shadows come from the right.  I love this view.  The new Community Center just opened up one block over and across the street.  The traffic has increased some, but the foot traffic has shot way up.  Benicia is a walking town, and many people walk to and from the Community Center to take various classes.  I love watching them walk by.  Once there was a little blond girl in a pink tutu followed by her mother who was filming her.  The little girl was arabesque-ing and pirouetting her way to ballet class.

Sometimes someone will walk by and stop to admire my little Wellington.  At least that's what I'm imagining they're doing.  Our street is looking so great.  The eye sore that was across the street and to the left in this picture is now pretty cute.  It was a mess when we moved in.  There were renters in there who really didn't take any pride in keeping this house up.  They have a cyclone fence, which wouldn't be so bad, but they had two big labs in there that barked every time someone went by.  There were weeds everywhere.  Old furniture was strewn about.  There was a huge dead tree.  The people spent most days on the front porch smoking.  It wasn't very nice and it wasn't very private for us when we wanted to be in our front yard.  I felt like we were their entertainment.  They finally moved out and then the property manager (what took him so long?) came over and cleaned the place up.  He had the tree cut down, painted the house, tore out carpet, replaced sheetrock and appliances (those guys were a disaster) and moved in a nice quiet little family!  They have nice porch furniture, potted plants and a brand new mailbox.

And don't forget, the library is right up the street!  Who could ask for more?  Life is good at Wellington.