Won't You Be My Neighbor

For the first time in recent memory I am living in a neighborhood.
In NY the Upper West Side was a neighborhood, but since Manhattan is really just a collection of streets making one organism, there's very little small town about it.
In LA, there was nothing remotely like a neighborhood where I was living. But there is nothing homey about LA regardless of where you are, so my little street was nothing out of the ordinary.
Recently I moved to an area outside of Boston and everyday I am struck by how much I enjoy just walking around. While I loved walking in NY it was because there was always something to look at, something to watch, someone to see. It was active.
Now, when I walk around my new digs, there is no pressure that I might miss something. The streets are lined with verdant trees now that Spring has hit. Some of the home owners have planted flowerbeds and here and there are splashes of color to break up the green and brown. Just 2 blocks West and you're on a main street, but on my little block it's nothing but Victorian-esque houses in purples, blues, and yellows.
It has not stopped raining for the past five days. As I walked to work early this morning, I was hit by the fresh smell of earth and clean pavement. Even during the slight breaks in the weather, the trees would rain down on me the heavy droplets that clung to their leaves. The streets were deserted and slick and it was bliss.
On my way home later this afternoon, the drizzle didn't stop a group of young boys from riding around on their bikes or playing basketball in the middle of the street. The occasional car would slow down and give them time to move the net.
It struck me that there is something Rockwellian about all this. I still don't know my neighbors and I'm not sure that I really want to. They will be the same sort of people I've lived next door to in other cities and while there's nothing wrong with that, I'm enjoying living in this bubble. Perhaps it will break this little spell and for right now - just right now - I'd like to be a bit enchanted, thank you very much.