Shortcuts

When I was little, my friends and I didn't think there was anything wrong with cutting through other people's backyards. We did it all the time. In fourth grade, to get to school, my friend Bernard walked past the house next door to his, down the driveway, through to my back yard and up my driveway. Then he and I walked up to the driveway between our friends Jay and Joe's house. Jay and Joe walked with us too. Jay had two yappy chihuahau dogs. I usually ignored their yapping, but one time one of them nipped me! They are teeny, tiny dosgs, but very aggressive. I learned after that to avoid dogs in their own backyard. They know they are in their own territory, and don't like you in it. But I didn't stop taking the shortcut--just took it more carefully. We would cut through Joe's backyard into Janey's backyard, and she would go with us too. We all walked together the rest of the way to school. Those shortcuts saved us a LOT of time. We could never have all walked together if we had had to stay on official sidewalks.
When I got a little older, my dad put a fence up so I couldn't cut through my own backyard. By then, Bernard walked a different way. When I went to junior high, I had to go in the opposite direction to school, so I walked through Alan and Carol's backyard where there was no fence. Or sometimes, I walked down to the end of the block and cut through on a path by the River des Peres (See Mae's blog) or up to the top of the block and cut through Lewis Park. These were also shortcuts, though on public paths, not through anyone's backyard. Any of these routes was shorter than walking up to Delmar.
If I did walk on Delmar, though, there were a couple of public walks that I led between houses down to quieter streets. One was called Varsity Walk. I can't remember what the other was called. I always thought it was fun to walk down the stairs between people's houses. You could see into their backyards or glance into their dining rooms.
I still like shortcuts. In San Francisco you can walk down some very nice paths from up in the hills to Fisherman's Wharf. In Berkeley, in the hills, there are some very nice walks that go between the houses. It is fun to see the sides and backyards of the very elegant houses. Here is a picture of Rose Walk, in Berkeley, picture by Karen Kemp on the Berkeley Path Wanderers Association website.