REFLECTION on Walk 35, Saturday, March 14, 8:30 a.. Start at Fresno City College, corner of McKinley and Van Ness. Walked a couple blocks South on Wishon, then turned east through neighborhoods behind Heaton Elementary, crossing Blackstone, south on Hammond which dead-ends into Hwy 41.As we left the FCC parking lot, four guys looking at electronic devices were on some sort of geocaching puzzle search – we greeted each other with “happy Pi day”.Three FM Walkers described this walk with these words: wisteria, spring scents, dogs, industrial, hard scrabbled life, juicy – a sense of living, vibrant feel of life, with lots of inside/outside living, junk yards/car disposal, junk yard dogs, automotive repair, tire shops, the Trades mixed with residential. This walk was a mix of old working-class neighborhoods, trees, bungalows, then areas of distraught houses up against Blackstone’s industrial, manufacturing, and retail. At the T of Hedges Ave. and Blackstone, a locked chain linked fence blocked car and foot traffic between Blackstone and the neighborhood..The smell of wisteria and jasmine filled the air.Passing San Joaquin Memorial High School’s beautiful landscaped campus, and then the Kermit Koontz Education Complex of Fresno County, we ran out of neighborhood as it was cut off by the Hwy 41. One home right up against the freeway was setting up large canopies, tables and stacks of white resin chairs. The men greeted us and said they were having a sweet 16 party. Walkers talked later that this was a Quinceanera.Walkers talked about the dirty business of the Trades, used car lots, tire businesses, and the industrial businesses at Blackstone and Olive running along railroad tracks. This grimy industrial area separates downtown Fresno from the developments toward the north.Walkers passed the beautiful driveway entrance to the Catholic Diocese of Fresno. We had seen many catholic shrines at homes. Walkers talked about whether the Catholic Diocese was a place open to the catholics of these neighborhoods. Does someone know this?One Walker is a teacher and knows the students who attend Heaton. She found it insightful to walk the neighborhood where these kids live. She thinks it would be valuable for every teacher to walk a mindfulness walk around the school and through the neighborhoods where their kids live.As we returned down the busy traffic of McKinley, we discussed that Fresno City College is right in the middle of such a mix of circumstances. This is a microcosm of all of Fresno.
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