In the Neighbourhood
Bavarian village well
In older times, wells were the places where women met: they had to fetch the water from the well and often enough this was an opportunity to have a nice talk with the neighbour.
Where do we meet today? Around the copier in the office, waiting in the queue? Or talking about how this wonderful thing could be seduced to do what it should do? Or in front of the refridgerator with the coffee machine on it?
And what about the meeting places in our neighbourhood? The newspaper stand? The gas station? Are there real meeting places in our neighbourhood?
Let’s talk!
11 responses to “In the Neighbourhood”
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Ulla Hennig's Weblog 
Hi Ulla, Around where I live, the local Starbucks or Caribou Coffee is a favorite meeting place. Not quite as pretty as your water well, but the aroma is wonderful!
Ulla, Your photograph is just beautiful and it makes me want to pause and have a drink of good water and a cool visit. Some mornings I can hardly get around my lake walk because all the humans have something to say to me (I think they hope I will write about what they say on my blog!)I am working on making the blog world a wonderful place for a chat, visit and community building. Maybe individual bloggers will make a community well?
Ulla, I love this photograph. It seems like a perfect day and made me want to step in and take a nice stroll stopping along the way to chat. As I think of your question, I don’t know that I have an answer. I don’t notice a local gathering place. People seem so busy moving from one destination to the next. It seems people only gather for a purpose, such as a sporting event, but no one just “hangs out.” Very sad.
Hi Ulla,
Where we live the Forest Preserve is a very nice place to meet. We can go Kayaking, bicycling, hiking, hang out at the beach or have a picnic. But your place is very beautiful!
In the summer we meet at the lake (Lake Michigan) or at the pool. The winter is a different story. I suppose we meet at the museums.
Thanks for the information about your meeting places. I know some places myself where I see the same people quite often – my local italian restaurant or the place where I get my newspapers. But seeing the people and talking to them are two different things. And that was the fact in the older times – people not only met, but they talked also. Some time ago I was a very shy person, but now I sometimes talk to people I don’t know – and one of the people is now a friend…
…and the gym.
Beautiful picture. Meeting places in my neighbourhood? Well, in front of our house. We have older neighbours across the road from us, and beside us. The old gents generally come over and chat with the Urbane Lion while he’s working on a project. The other place would be the marina where our boat is docked. As we are preparing to leave, or have just come in, our dock neighbours generally gather around for a chat. I don’t really have a neighbourhood chatting area because I am English but have just moved to Quebec, so I can’t chat with anyone, since I speak nor understand very little French. I just sort of stand around like the third wheel at the moment. Hmmmmm…..I gotta get me some Chat Buddies! *smile*
That is lovely. I’ve just got back from Bavaria (I was visiting my sister who lives just south of Munich). Meeting places – hmmm, in the UK we don’t tend to talk to strangers, but if there is a sense of shared solidarity in the face of an extreme situation or inconvenience then often people will get talking. I’m thinking of a crowded train for example, where the humour can get very dark!
In some ways, what we are doing right now is like a meeting place. We comment on each others’ blogs, twittering, chatting, and forums.
I know you were referring to a physical, tangible place, but in the intangible, non-physical sense, we are meeting right this minute.
Sorry, I’m so late to the conversation, but in our little town, the Sunshine deli hosts the round table discussions over a cup of coffee every day of the week. In my dad’s small town, Anthony’s Bakery is where the great minds meet. In the midwest, I would venture to say there are many towns with many small eateries hosting a great mind meld any day of the week…except perhaps Sunday, when these great minds are attending church. Thank you for the thought provoking picture.
Lori