Today’s walk consisted of a short path through the Holiday Hills subdivision as well as the adjacent stretch of Versailles Road. The neighborhood seems to date from the 1960’s, with familiar ranch houses similar to those in other neighborhoods built at the same time.  Street names in neighborhoods can sometimes be incomprehensible.  The names here were not only consistent (French place names), they also managed to play off the name of the arterial, though of course, we pronounce Versailles a little differently!

The neighborhood didn’t offer much in the way of surprises, though Versailles road did.  Versailles road looks different at three miles per hour, and the transition from the commercial to residential between Parker’s Mill and Bordeaux is more evident.  Residential spaces along major, high-speed roads generally seem to be pretty well shielded by foliage. At 45 miles per hour, the houses may as well not exist as far as most of us are concerned and perceptually, it feels like going from commercial district to, well…, nothing.  On foot (in winter, at least), the houses are visible, and one has plenty of time to wonder, When would it have seemed like a good idea to build a house along Versailles Road?

Versailles has plenty of curb breaks, along the residential section as well as the drive-through-dominated commercial section.  My pedestrian paranoia kicked in while I was walking with traffic–I was concerned a car my approach from behind me and clip me while turning right off Versailles.  It may sound like I don’t have much faith in drivers to spot someone walking in broad daylight, but my paranoia may have been well-founded, as I saw the same man nearly hit twice in a matter of minutes while trying to cross Alexandria and Versailles roads in his wheelchair, both times by drivers making right hand turns and not paying attention.  One vehicle glided through the stop line and missed him by a matter of inches; the driver quickly made sure no cars were coming, then made the turn.  I don’t the driver ever realized someone was there.  And maybe that’s the point.  Survival in this world requires, at the minimum, assuming drivers don’t realize you are there.