My family moved into Forest Lakes when I was six years old, at the beginning of spring.

We watched our house being built on one of the last streets of the neighborhood. I can still remember playing hide-and-seek in our house when it was just a wooden shell of what it is now. Through the years, I have watched grass sprout from sandy, bamboo filled yards, houses being constructed on empty lots, and many pools being installed. I learned through the rise and fall of many lemonade stands and homemade bracelet stands that business was probably not my calling in life. Growing up in the neighborhood, there was never a shortage of friends to run around with or adventurous conquests to be had.

The photos included in this piece are a collection of the places where I have the most significant memories; revisiting them was like shaking hands with a ghost of my younger self.

Forest Lakes.

From the outside looking in; the entrance to the neighborhood of Forest Lakes from Waters Road.

The grand front lake.

View looking across the front lake from the gazebo at the front of the neighborhood. There is a dirt path around the lake that we would go “off-roading” with our bikes on. It was especially grand after it had rained and we could come home with mud stains on our clothes to prove how hardcore we were.

A perfect place to think.

Penny for your thoughts? I used to come to the benches to read and daydream while gazing across the lake, that I now have come to realize is a residential retention pond. It’s funny how oblivious we are as children to things of this nature.

Friendly neighbors.

A male and female mallard duck pair (or a domesticated breed of the sort). You can catch neighborhood residents feeding the ducks bread on a regular basis when you are passing by the lake.

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