Reflection on Walk #36 in West Fresno. From Food Maxx, north through neighborhoods until bumping into Hwy 180 and Chandler Airport. (This may be the longest reflection yet.) On a beautiful Saturday morning, March 21, four FMWalkers started in the parking lot of Food Maxx. This was already a busy place at 8:30 a.m. Next to the parking lot behind a metal electrical box, there was a person sleeping in a sleeping bag with personal belongings piled on a wheelchair.We saw Rising Star Missionary Baptist church, but later learned this is the old location, with the new location just a few blocks away. The old location is locked up behind fences with gravel and potholes and weeds growing between the cracks. Is there a plan for this property?The stroll north along B street, we saw people sitting in their front porches and also a number of boarded up and neglected homes and old retail. One house was already blasting loud music from a car stereo. An older gentleman had a bunch of random stuff out on the street for sale. He didn’t seem fond of talking to us and said he didn’t want us taking pictures of the items. The Fink White park was open with four adults hanging out by a car with the trunk open and two dogs on leashes wrestling. Fink White has a small pool (which is empty behind locked fences,) and the sign for the Boys & Girls Club. No kids on the playground this morning, but a couple of men chatting while looking at a phone.A block away there’s lots of commotion at the corner with the Stay In School Bike Show. We meet Pastor Bruce Hood, his loud rumbling Vega, with Feed My Sheep and Jesus Saves painted on his car. This is a happy corner with families and laughing and a BBQ already smoking with chicken on the grill. Everyone talked to the FMWalkers and showed off their custom bicycles. This is their annual show. Pastor Hood told me his goal is to keep kids in school and out of gangs. His church is just around the corner.Walkers continue through neighborhoods and through a quiet subdivision of neatly groomed and fairly new duplex type row houses. Green grass strips with playgrounds, and grouped parking making it a safe place for kids.Leaving this division, we walk along a narrow strip/alley right along Hwy 180 and come out on a country road, no sidewalks, big properties, with houses set way back. Front yard fences keep dogs in and multiple cars locked behind.A large empty lot has an open gate, and two RV’s are set up far apart from each other, but are occupied. Walkers discuss later about whether these are ‘squatters’ or if they have permission to be living in RVs on this property.Peeking through fences, we see orchards in backyards, and one house has a koi pond. Large oranges hanging on trees. After leaving this street, a lady drives up in her car and asks me what we are doing. She said she saw me take a picture and has never had anyone walk on her street and take pictures. I briefly explain FMW, and the pictures are just of interesting details. As she’s talking to me through her car window, a pickup truck comes right up behind her and honks. A man yells for her to get out of the way. However, she’s pulled to the left of three lanes and there’s plenty of room for the truck to easily go around and no other traffic. She tells me that this guy is her neighbor and is always harrassing her. Walkers talk later about how frustrating and scary it would be to have a neighbor like this.We hear plenty of roosters, and see citrus trees. Wisteria is growing over fences. There are a couple of large businesses out here: Angelica, a porta potty Company, and a pallet company.We encounter two people arguing in the middle of the street — a man and a women. A gentleman, in shorts with no shirt, has walked with us toward the argument, and we talk to him. He’s making sure the woman is not in danger. Together with the shirtless man, we watch for a couple of minutes, and decide this is just a loud argument with no immediate danger. He tells us that he has tw
This entry was posted in Uncategorized
