Opening Windows

This is Dr. Flagler. She teaches inner-city children with emotional and behavioral development issues. I met her this week because her window was the only one open and I was standing outside it.

FYI, here's what that little pink note on the window says:


I was standing outside it because I was touring the new native wildlife habitat that sustainable landscape designer Lindsey Mann created at an impressive middle school (where the morning announcements end with the song "Ain't No Stoppin' Up Now"), surrounded by homes that are boarded up or in desperate need of repair. Here are two houses directly across the street from where I was standing:





Dr. Flagler leaned out the school window to thank Lindsey for what she had done. I asked her if she has always been opening her window, and she said no, that it's just since the wildlife habitat went in. She mentioned that she takes her students out there for lunch. She suggested that she and her students add some fish to the little pond. She offered to be the caretaker of the pond motor, which Lindsey had been hesitant to add unless someone was going to care for it. She said what Lindsey had done had made a difference.

Here's what Lindsey had done (two views):







Lindsey and I sat and talked for a long time. She showed me the river oats and the lavender and the other native and edible ecosystem-appropriate plants she had chosen for this space, plants that will fill in and flourish in the next few years to create a haven for butterflies and birds, and for children. Here is the plan:


That night, at dinner at home, I showed the photos of the houses to my daughters. My younger one commented, "Okay, well, they don't look so great now, but they certainly have potential."

Potential.

I thought of Dr. Flagler and the four middle-school boys whom she introduced to us, who poked their heads out the window, too, and waved. Who asked Lindsey if she was the one who wore the hat whom they had seen before. Who smiled big and broad when talking about the serene, green space in front of them. Who may have lived in one of those houses, or in the apartments across the litter-strewn field.

I thought of windows that should not be open, yet are. I thought of what would happen if everyone, everywhere had a space like this to call his or her own.

I asked Lindsey if I could see more of her work. I want to see what sustainably designed landscapes can do to change the world. One child. One teacher. One open window at a time.

We're going to visit proposed urban farm locations for the United Methodist Children's Home and the City of Decatur this week. Stay tuned!

And keep opening windows.