The Trees Stand Alone

Crossing Natural Bridge Road on McKelvey Road--which becomes Bonfils at that point--passing the nearly defunct Carrollton Shopping Center, and the King Pin Lanes bowling alley which was probably quite popular back in the day, you are in what was once a subdivision and is now gradually being cleared for the Lambert Airport expansion.

A handful of sixties-era ranch homes remain, boarded up, gutters drooping. All are scheduled for demolition, but it appears there's no hurry at present. The streets are cracked and weedy, and most street signs are gone.

A few houses are still occupied, most on the far side of I-270. A sign marks Brumley and Bondurant and two houses float in the vasty green, cars parked in front. Sometimes it's hard to tell if a house is vacant. I feel sad for the people who may have treasured their homes there and never expected to leave.

The trees stand tall; hemlocks and holly mark walks and property boundaries that no longer exist. A fair number of rosebushes bloom, unperturbed. Acres and acres of deep emerald vista, a green screen.

When I'm in the area I like to slowly wheel through streets overhung with unpruned branches that slap at the windshield. A windchime tings somewhere. I wish the trees could remain.