I have always had a perspective on suburbs - I don't understand them. Driving down a street, seeing identical houses lined up always reminds me of A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle:
"Below them the town was laid out in harsh angular patterns. The houses in the outskirts were all exactly alike, small square boxes painted gray. Each had a small, rectangular plot of lawn in front, with a straight line of dull-looking flowers edging the path to the door. Meg had a feeling that if she could count the flowers there would be exactly the same number for each house. In front of all the houses children were playing. Some were skipping rope, some were bounding balls. Meg felt vaguely that something was wrong with their play... As the skipping rope hit the pavement, so did the ball. As the rope curved over the head of the jumping child, the child with the ball caught the ball. Down came the ropes. Down came the balls. Over and over again. Up. Down. All in rhythm. All identical. Like the houses. Like the paths. Like the flowers." (pg. 98-99)
Fun fact: A Wrinkle in Time was first published in 1962.
This passage has stuck with me through the years.
It speaks to some of the fears I have, the same that stir when I see an office filled with cubicles.
Suburbs have always been unsettling to me, (I don't know exactly why, it has something to do with the passage above, and the fact that I am a country girl). That unease/confusion is stronger now.
I see the huge houses and wonder how one family can fill them.
I go to the grocery store and am overwhelmed by the choices and the lights.
I see family for the first time, and am beginning to see some of the ways I have changed through their eyes.
I think this is what they call reverse culture shock.
<3
"Below them the town was laid out in harsh angular patterns. The houses in the outskirts were all exactly alike, small square boxes painted gray. Each had a small, rectangular plot of lawn in front, with a straight line of dull-looking flowers edging the path to the door. Meg had a feeling that if she could count the flowers there would be exactly the same number for each house. In front of all the houses children were playing. Some were skipping rope, some were bounding balls. Meg felt vaguely that something was wrong with their play... As the skipping rope hit the pavement, so did the ball. As the rope curved over the head of the jumping child, the child with the ball caught the ball. Down came the ropes. Down came the balls. Over and over again. Up. Down. All in rhythm. All identical. Like the houses. Like the paths. Like the flowers." (pg. 98-99)
Fun fact: A Wrinkle in Time was first published in 1962.
This passage has stuck with me through the years.
It speaks to some of the fears I have, the same that stir when I see an office filled with cubicles.
Suburbs have always been unsettling to me, (I don't know exactly why, it has something to do with the passage above, and the fact that I am a country girl). That unease/confusion is stronger now.
I see the huge houses and wonder how one family can fill them.
I go to the grocery store and am overwhelmed by the choices and the lights.
I see family for the first time, and am beginning to see some of the ways I have changed through their eyes.
I think this is what they call reverse culture shock.
<3
