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I have a weird habit of giving a ‘personality’ to inanimate objects. Anthropomorphism is a term coined in the 1700s to give storytellers an edge. Perhaps it was also meant to conjure empathy for the object or animal involved – to make human hearts more understanding of a creature or thing’s place in history. I walk my dogs daily. It’s a peaceful stroll down the side streets of an old Regina neighbourhood. Many of the sidewalks are crumbling and the housing stock – well – if they could talk! Some houses are swallowed by unkempt trees and shrubs – it’s hard to imagine the last time sunrays found their way through the windows. Some houses have deteriorated noticeably over the last decade. With the weather beating the roofs and foundations, the dwellings have certainly seen better days. I look at my own bungalow, built in 1952. What a youth it must have enjoyed! Right in the middle of a housing boom and a baby boom, it blossomed on the street among newly-sodded lawns and those tiny spruce trees, which have since towered above the roofs. At the corner was a mom and pop convenience store where you could dash out for a dozen eggs or a loaf of bread if you ran out of home-baked. One block south was a church built in 1954 according to the cornerstone. Now it guides the flock as a youth centre. A little farther down was an elementary school, demolished in 2008. A lovely stroll west delivered you to a Kinsmen Park also with a plaque of 1954. Ball diamonds and teeter-totters were a great draw to this family playground. As idealistic as this all sounds, there’s never been a time in history when families didn’t have nasty secrets or tragic accidents befall. As progressive as we think we are, there are still social issues and attitudes to clean up along with infrastructure and houses. That corner store I see from my window was finally shut down because the proprietors were selling drugs along with milk and bread.  A house down the street is now well-kept and bright hiding traces of the arson there a few years before. What could our houses tell us? Many would be grateful for the maintenance we provide so they can shelter families for years to come. As cracks in foundations are stabilized and windows are replaced, they’d probably sigh and say: “Thank you. And lay off the vinyl siding!” Karen Handling? Heritage Saskatchewan