Transpo Convo: What’s Important on the Way to School

[This is part of streets.mn’s “transpo convo” series, which aims to to be an oral history of getting around the Twin Cities, one person at a time.]

Growing up, I learned the Sesame Street song “Who are the People in your Neighborhood?” Living on a farm, my neighborhood looked quite a bit different from Sesame Street. Now that I live in a denser location, I take advantage of the surrounding amenities, as does my family. One luxury that they have that I didn’t is the opportunity to walk to school. We take full advantage of this time spent together every morning and afternoon. Here is a recount of a recent morning, mostly from the perspective of my child.

We have daily experiences that feel like a real life Sesame Street or Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. We learn that the neighborhood has routines as we often see people we know and familiar faces heading to work or running errands. My daughter enjoys greeting those familiar faces and, if time, often has stories to tell. She’ll wave at the Green Line driver or thank the bus driver as we depart. This has paid off as at least on one occasion the train waited as we were running a few seconds late.

My family appreciates the walk and the moments when we notice what would otherwise be missed. For example, the fork in the road:

Or watching this banana peel turn from yellow to black throughout the week:

 

It’s fun to watch plant life transition from season to season:

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Let’s imagine what joy we could have with some of these objects that are just waiting for human interaction:

 

Certainly, not every object is what it seems to be. Look, it’s a stick, with a moustache!