You know it’s spring on Third Street when you see your neighbors’ faces for the first time in months. Last night before sunset, Third Streeters were out in force, sitting on the steps in front of their buildings, watching the kids play, seeing who was walking down the street.

And chit chatting.

On Third, we spend much of the warm months out on the street. The 8-unit lime stone apartment buildings, of which there are ten or more, have these large, gated front yards that are perfect for hanging out.

Unlike those with brownstones, we don’t have backyards, so we do our outdoor sitting, eating, lounging, reading, watching our children play in plain sight. This adds a pleasant social element to our outdoor recreation. There’s lots of spirited talking over the fence at passersbys. "Nice bike," we might say to the neighbor’s kid. Or "Is it possible that so and so is going to college. When we moved here he was just six."

On summer weekends, the people in my building bring out canvas umbrella chairs, green plastic turtle-shaped pools and barbecues: we do a great imitation of suburbanites. We even have impromptu building-wide pot-luck barbecues, which include marshmallow roasts for the kids and lots of beer and wine. For the grown-ups. "Anyone up for a barbecue?" is all it takes to motivate the neighbors to check what’s in the fridge and cook dinner outside.

For the next few days it’ll be like old home week. If the weather stays
warm, we’ll shoot the breeze with friends we haven’t shot breezes with in
ages due to cold weather and rain. Everyone will be in a slowed
down, "isn’t this a lovely day," kind of mood and we’ll hear the latest news, all the Third Street gossip.

And we’ll be out-of-doors for a change, back to living our lives out on the street near the window boxes and the garbage pails.

Yours from Brooklyn,
OTBKB