It’s been a while since I wrote about my Sunday walks. This morning I was back in Back Central or, as I like to call it, “the Garden District.” Every house, it seems like every house anyway, has something growing, from heavy-duty dark-red roses in front yards and flowers in tall plastic kitchen trash containers filled with soil to full-scale vegetable gardens thick with beans, sprouting corn, tomato plants, and all kinds of flowers. In season, I like to check out the progress every couple of weeks. The grape vines are running through the arbors like crazy with the beginnings of bunches of grapes already showing. Make time to take a look. My walking companion and I met a member of the neighborhood’s famous Portuguese band carrying his clarinet in a small case (the instrument broke down in five pieces). The band was scheduled to play at 11 am for a church procession coming down Central Street. We also met a couple of older gardeners who were checking their plants. There is a remarkable “growing” culture in the neighborhood that makes it a distinct section of the city. Small patches of soil yield a bounty of food and flower-beauty.