Monday October 6th, 1:29pm
It was the first “cold” day since returning to college. I would rarely say 60º is cold except I had just spent the weekend in 80º sunny Milwaukee weather; it was a sign that fall was finally here. I stood on the corner of 7th St W and Division St S, chilly but curious about the two blocks of Northfield I was about to explore. The frontend was the last of downtown commercial businesses, and the back, old houses of original Northfield trying to keep up in the modern neighborhoods.
Standing there, my eyes were immediately drawn to the horticulture that was on the corners, and out front of the Sterling Pharmacy business complex. Milkweed, herbs and flowers had been planted in the green-beds. It was obvious that someone maintained these plants, but since the road infrastructure of 7th St W looked new, I was even more interested in the story behind the installation of these garden beds. Northfield has many project funds and community groups committed to beautifying the town, such as Northfield shares or the Northfield Garden Club, and I wonder if either of them is responsible. Residing within an outlet mall style looking building, Sterling Pharmacy has been there since 2013, when it replaced Village Drug, a family owned pharmacy that had been there since 1997. I didn’t end up wandering inside, but I did take a “spur” checking out the back parking lot, and adjacent greenery which appeared to be home to a few squirrels.
Back on the main sidewalk, I strolled around the corner and up Water St until a large porch attached to a yellow house caught my attention. It wrapped around two sides of the house, yet, the middle section of the porch was not attached to the house. It reminded me of tetris, where two shapes were placed incorrectly and there was now a one block hole that was surrounded by the pieces. I also noticed the peeling paint and the subtle structural sag that was happening along some of the roof line, characteristics of an older house. According to the county’s property assessor website, this house was built in 1890 and is claimed to be part of the original Northfield town.
I stopped again on the corner of 9th St W and Water St S to observe a tall red house, and the cage in its yard. This was definitely the most surprising (and disturbing) moment of my walk around Northfield. I was examining the half-dead, half-inbloom flowers that were nicely bedded on the corner of this family’s property, when I heard a frantic rattling. Under their large tree, was a squirrel who had been caught in a trap. It was such a juxtaposed scene to me, with their nicely maintained, peaceful gardens but then this entrapped squirrel fighting violently to escape the cage it was in. I was pretty taken aback as well, but just watched for a bit longer and then kept walking. I still have questions that I would ask the owners if I had the chance, mainly, what are they going to do with a trapped squirrel in this urban-ish setting? And why did they need to trap one?
Trying to block out those thoughts so that I would stay in touch during the rest of my walk, I realized I kept having the same recurring thought about a lot of these houses: they all had impressive greenery and gardens. Five or Six houses I passed had constructed garden beds for vegetables, or had other pleasant shrubbery planted. To me, this pattern suggests that people are willing to invest in their homes and put effort towards something that will not only provide for them, but that will also make their homes look nicer. It wasn’t long before I found myself standing, once again, outside of Sterling Pharmacy.
