Who takes care of the alley?

TO THE WEST of the Hart Manor in Calftown is a grass alley. We aren't sure who is supposed to take care of it. We've been told several different things in the 11 years we've lived here, including that Ameren CIPS, the electric company, owns the right of way so they can access the electric on a pole in the neighbor's yard.

Mowed and weeded. It looks a ton better.

The owner of the two homes on the corner rents them out and couldn't care less. The alley is full of weeds and trash. Sheryl goes through it on a weekly basis to clean out all the trash. She also spends a lot of time weeding on both sides of our fence. Technically its not our property, but it keeps the weeds away from our yard.

Every now and then I'll run the mower through the alley, but most of the time it's neglected and the grass and weeds grow long.

Somebody has to take care of it. But who exactly is somebody? Our good friend, the legendary Bob Mays, used to say, "I wish somebody would do something. Then I realized, I am somebody."

So, this year, I'm keeping a better eye on the alley. I've mowed it three or four times already and this morning I took the weed whacker to it and chopped down several hay bales of green growth. It took all of 20 minutes. It's not a huge deal. I have time during this COVID-19 stay at home order and I want to do something.

My challenge to you is to be somebody. You can bitch and moan and point the finger and everybody around you. Maybe now is a good time to take a good hard look around and realize three fingers are pointing back at you.

You are somebody. Get it done. You'll feel better and it makes our world a little bit better. God knows we need all the "little bit better" we can get.