K2 - Puttin' on the Kitsch

The neighborhood where we live is predominantly inhabited by retired residents. And that is fine, because we are retirees, too. When the Redbud Estates were originally planned and the street layout designed years ago on the north side, some clever person decided that the names should bring to mind an idyllic vision of a golden retirement. So the original developers gave the streets really kitschy names. On the north side of Redbud you will find Easy Street (that may be the worst of the bad), Pleasant Way, Leisure Lane, and Freedom Way. Maybe the worst names are actually Serenity Circle and Placid Court. I don't know, but does this bring to mind pictures of some cemetery somewhere?

The developers did do a little better when they opened the newer section to the south. Although there is a Dream Street, a Fantasy Lane, and Imagination Dr. Someone I know suggested an even better name for one of those last three after a rainstorm. But I'm not going to mention it. I'm not sure what market was being attracted at that time. I do know that I have always been happy that both houses we have lived in in Redbud have been on streets named Redbud. For some reason our address didn't seem quite so preciously hokey.

Redbud started a new section of homes to the west. To my mind the naming of streets and sections didn't improve. It may have even gotten worse. They named the new section "Camelot", still bringing up idyllic visions, I guess. Worse than the name is the entrance gate way. Where at the north and south sections, they have nice brick entrance walls with attractive lighting, at Camelot they hauled in huge rectangular stones that were dropped haphazardly. They look for all the world like a kitschy Stonehenge.

Then there is the naming of the streets in Camelot. I imagine you have already guessed. Yes, there is a Guinevere, a Lancelot, a Round Table, and even an Arthurs Way. We were driving through that neighborhood the other day. Don said when he saw the sign for Arthurs Way, " At first I thought that sign said Arthritis Way." We decided that it would be a better name for a retirement village. It would bring to mind a really true picture of retirement.

So, of course, we couldn't let that idea go without further expansion. We decided that we might start a new retirement village. Oh, I know, you are way ahead of me. We would have streets named things like: Diabetes Drive, Cataract Court, Cardio Circle, Hearing Aid Avenue, Osteoporosis Place, Senility Street, and Hypertension Hill.

Go ahead, jump right in, I'm sure the ideas are endless!