O A K F I E L D ,   N E W   Y O R K

This place is now an eye-sore. Sorry to say this house has really gone down hill.

It is good to see someone is doing some home improvement.

Here's a view looking back down Gibson Sreet. I'm disappointed to see they cut down a lot of the trees when they widened the road and put in the drainage. As a kid I remember a good portion of the street was canopied by tall, wonderful trees. I have to say on average the street has gone a little down hill since I last visited. And going back even further to when I lived on the street, the difference is even more striking. But like people, houses age and grow old. I understand times have grown tougher for the town with the gypsum mine closure. It's hard to say what the reasons for its slow decline are. But just the same, it's sad to see it had not changed for the better.

I ride my bike past my family's old church, St Cecilia's Catholic Church. It looks great and is now sporting an addition that I hadn't seen before. This is the church where I made my first communion and then years later my confirmation. I recall one funny story related to church.