Local Love: Pastor Reflects on Walking Every Street in Ferndale
(Guest View by Jim Pool, Pastor Renaissance Vineyard, Ferndale, Oct. 15, 2015)
In May I made the commitment to walk every street in Ferndale. The idea had come when I had this inspiration to walk throughout the city. I made a note to myself and then promptly forgot. When I rediscovered that note, three years later, I decided I should really do it. I walked around town a lot already, but I knew for this I needed to be intentional. I printed a map, hung it in my office and then got going. I set out in spring and finished in fall, with a siesta during the dog days of summer. Like anything worth doing, it was often joyful, sometimes tedious, always invigorating.
I found streets I never knew existed. I never imagined so many front porch couches, so many creative yard art pieces, so many home gardens with beautiful flowers, so many fur babies. It’s obvious we care about our blocks, care about our homes, care about our kids, care about our pets, care about each other. We care about our community. Everywhere I went that people passionately care about our community.
Ferndale is like a prism of 20,000 facets, refracting the light of our city in a myriad of ways, a diversity of diversities, yet with the common commitment to ‪#‎GoodNeighbors at its heart. We’re built on a solid foundation of 1920’s homes and long-standing businesses, with new growth all around us. We are a great city still under construction.
I found my passion for this city renewed, as block by block my heart was filled, to overflowing. I love our city, with all its glories and imperfections. As the story goes, almost 100 years ago a utility worker climbed a tower to bring power to this new town. When filing his report he wasn’t sure what to call it and looking around saw ferns in the low-lying dales. Sometimes people wonder still, not sure what to make of this eccentric city filled with funky, fabulous families. We know what to call it …We call it home.
The journey isn’t over, it’s really just a beginning. Keep on being Ferndale!
For more Ferndale stories, be sure to check the oc115 Ferndale Section often. Submit your own guest view to editor@oc115.com.
Here are some of our favorite pictures around town over the years.  Do you recognize them all?