Our street is a short, one-way street, four blocks from the Charles River. It's lined with three-family homes, built at the turn of the century for people who worked at factories and needed places to live.
There are families and single people, older couples and students in this street. There are Greeks and Chinese and white Americans.
If you head down the street and make a left turn, you may run across Billy Davis. He was born on that street and is now a retiree (退休人士). He'll tell you all about Cambridge in the old days. He'll tell you how he couldn't act up because there were so many watching mamas on his street and they all had eyes on the naughty (顽皮的) kids in the neighbourhood. He might do something wrong, but the minute he walked in his own house, his mum would say "Hey, what were you doing down at the park?" and it was all over. His stories need telling and we are eager (渴望的) listeners.
Walk over a block and you reach our neighbourhood mechanic, Phil. He's the best mechanic in all Cambridge and will give you fair prices and honest statements of what's wrong with your car.
Walk the other way to Central Square and you'll come across the Village Grill, run by Theo and Helen. It's a small neighbourhood restaurant. Whatever you order, you will always find it is worth every penny (便士). You don't just pay for food, but you pay for conversation and it is always interesting. Theo and Helen are Greek, so the conversation turns Greek sometimes.
I walk out of the house on this Monday morning, and smile at my neighbourhood. It's going to be a hot day, and tonight will see many of us at our front door, observing (观察) each other through plants.
