THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 14, 1994 TAG: 9407130113
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
SOURCE: John Pruitt
LENGTH: Medium: 73 lines
An assortment of comments and observations from the Peanut Gallery:
A blooming entrance, exit. . .
If you've driven into or out of town on Portsmouth Boulevard recently, you're bound to have noticed the crape myrtles that are in bloom in the median.
They're a colorful greeting to anyone coming into town and a pleasing goodbye. They complement the lofty trees that provide a shady, green arch across adjoining roadway.
Unlike many other trees that have suffered from the extended dryness of this summer, crape myrtles thrive in the heat - as their rich colors testify. Fortunately, they're popular with businesses and homeowners, too, so their beauty abounds in neighborhoods across Hampton Roads.
Given some years, the Portsmouth Boulevard planting will take on the look of the mature crape myrtles that line U.S. Route 13 on the Eastern Shore. At this time of year, the splashy Shore display stretches for miles, transforming a ride on the straight, flat highway into a pathway fit to be the road to a glorious mansion.
Suffolk's trees were planted a couple of years back by the Beautification Commission, a little-known agency that also provides funds and advice to neighborhoods eager to beautify. Even with limited funds, the commission continues to enliven our surroundings.
A former car-repair business on Portsmouth Boulevard has been transformed from an eyesore to an attractive building. Now, if only more businesses on this major thoroughfare - including that flea market with merchandise seemingly strewn everywhere - would only catch the spirit.
So much trash. . .
Is it a Suffolk thing, or is it a problem everywhere? I'm talking about trash: from old tires cast away wherever people get the urge to dump them to bottles and food wrappers just tossed in neighborhoods, in people's yards and along the street.
It seems worst in the summer, when children are out of school and adults want to cool down with a drink.
And that makes we wonder, don't these kids learn in school - yes, I know they're taught - that they're environmental stewards, that the drink cans they just drop wherever they happen to be don't magically get to a recycling bin or somehow just disappear? Don't they care that cans and styrofoam last a long time and pollute the environment?
As for the adults, there's just no excuse for people who roll down car windows as they whiz through a neighborhood and toss out bags of every kind of trash imaginable, empty ash trays into the street, or toss out bottles with the intent of breaking glass. Where do they think all this stuff is going?
The unfortunate answer is nowhere, unless someone else gets out there and cleans it up. That, of course, speaks to a larger problem, of expecting someone else to clean up our messes.
It's totally unreasonable. What makes a lot more sense is for every one of us to take responsibility - and, until that happens, clean up behind uncaring slobs who litter. Otherwise, we'll just get swallowed up in cigarette butts, beer cans, styrofoam and every form of trash we can imagine.
Wheels on the lawn. . .
Is there anything that cheapens a neighborhood more than having automobiles parked on the front lawn? Is there anything more discouraging to people who cherish their homes and work to upgrade their neighborhoods?
This, too, is a Suffolk curse. It's illegal, but that doesn't seem to hamper a lot of people. Police will issue citations for violators, but most of us hesitate to involve them; they have more important concerns, and we generally don't want our neighbors to get into trouble.
Common sense and courtesy seem ingredients enough - for people who want to be good neighbors. by CNB