Place and Patience #AtoZChallenge

Today, I am blogging about two Places - the bookends of my life up to now, in a way.

My backyard is popping with spring.  Sometimes plants can literally pop up overnight, as these bloodroots can.

 Soon, they will be gone, replaced by other flowers and plants in the Parade of spring.

And there's my trillium.  I bought this plant five years ago. Trilliums, which produce one flower in early spring and then go dormant for the rest of the year, take years to be of blooming size.  One thing you need to grow trilliums is Patience.

The first three years there was no sign of a flower.    Last year, there was a flower bud but it never opened.  I figured "this is the year!"But spring 2019 had arrived, the plant wasn't coming up and I feared it had winter killed, just like  number of my other herbs and plants did.  It wasn't the harshest winter ever but something wasn't right for my garden.

So last night I walked in my yard after work and - there it was, leaves and flower bud at the ready!

Patience....

Which brings me to the other bookend of my life - my childhood neighborhood.

Not too many people can say that they can jump on You Tube and see lots of pictures of their childhood neighborhood.

I am one of those who can, and it's partially because I grew up near a train station in the Bronx (a borough of New York City).  Actually, make that three train stations.

First- a stop on what was once called the Pennsylvania Railroad, then became Penn Central, and finally MetroNorth.

Then, there was the Third Avenue El, which ceased to exist in 1973.  The tracks were torn down soon after but I grew up listening to the screeching of elevated trains rounding a curve.  That sound was not disruptive but, rather, soothing.  Although the train ceased operation in 1973 it remains forever in my memory.

The video above details the last train station which I used all through the first 21 years of my life, Gun Hill Road. If you look to the left about 0:25 of the video, you will see several tall buildings.  Those are part of the housing project where I grew up.

If you look at 2:32 of the above video you will get a glimpse of the neighborhood I grew up in through the windows of the train.

Another video from You Tube; one I used several years ago on my blog. This still is the Immaculate Conception Church.  I used to hang around this church (very beginning of the video) with friends. Sometimes, if there was a wedding, they would allow us to throw rice at the happy couple.

Many of the buildings in this video existed when I was growing up.  The neighborhood has changed greatly, but the buildings (in a way) remain the same.  Just much, much older.

I am amazed at the numbers of fans of trains who post videos on You Tube.  But to my surprise, there's even more.  I grew up across the street from a fire engine company.  They would have open houses and I can remember visiting the station as a child.  They even had a Dalmatian.

Their sirens, when they woke me up at night, reassured me.  They never bothered me at all.

So, imagine my surprise when I found videos of that fire station in action.   There are others but I liked some of the views of the fire station I remember from some 60 years ago.

A Pizza Parlor from my later childhood still exists, in a neighborhood that has changed so much. It started its downhill slide around 1968, perhaps a little earlier.  Many People are working to bring this Part of the Bronx back - people with love of Place, Plus Perseverance and Patience.

Thinking of growing up in the Bronx brings back so many memories and feelings - a Plethora of memories, perhaps.

Can you see pictures of your birthplace on You Tube?

"P" day on the Blogging from A to Z Challenge. My theme - Finding America through Photos.