Neighborhood Watch

I knew I’d seen this sign on one of the streets near my house. I remembered stopping my car and getting out to examine the message.

You see, I’d had a vision. It involved safety and security, but it was much more than that. It was a vision of neighbors helping neighbors, not just by making a phone call to the Sheriff’s Department to report suspicious activity but by really knowing our neighbors. The word neighbor itself embraces the concept of friendship, but these days it’s come to be nothing more than a way to refer to the human beings living next door, whoever they might be.

Anyway, my plan was to take my camera and walk west toward the Headlands. The Neighborhood Watch sign had been up there somewhere, I was certain. I would locate the sign, take a picture of it, and use the image as part of this Lantern Village newsletter. I would write about the LVA plan to organize the village into blocks, each block made up of perhaps two dozen homes, each group of homeowners working together to be friendly neighbors.

A block captain would represent each block. There would be occasional meetings. There would be a couple of social gatherings each year.

After a few wrong turns, I found the sign, took the photo, and headed home, reaching my street after about a 15 minute walk. Surprise, surprise. At the corner, not more than 20 yards from my front door, stood a sign that I must have walked past a thousand times: “Dana Point is a Neighborhood Watch Community.”