Dogs Don’t Lie

No mention of Columbia Heights would be complete without a word about our neighbor Mr. Tim. We first met Mr. Tim during the home inspection for our condo. He walked up with his trademark broom and dustpan and began telling us how the building we were about to move into used to be an open air drug market. (NPR did a story around the same time about some young men who lived in a foster home at the same address; check it out here). We assumed he was drunk or crazy or both and tried to ignore him.

Since then, we’ve learned a lot about our neighbor. He was born in South Carolina, the son of a Baptist preacher, and moved to Washington, DC when he was still a boy. As a young man, he volunteered for combat duty in Vietnam and was awarded a Purple Heart for meritorious service. Later, he came back to Washington and earned a degree in accounting from Howard University. After graduation,* he worked for many years as part of the US Naval Audit Service. For most of his adult life, Mr. Tim has resided at 1306 Park Road, just across the street from our condo. During the really bad years, when the neighborhood was depressed and crime ridden, he would stand watch at night with his shotgun to keep the drug dealers and gang bangers away.

Mr. Tim pretty much owns the 1300 block of Park Road. He sweeps the streets, clears the snow, and maintains the vacant lot on the corner. He knows all the neighbors, and they all know him (even the ones who pretend not to). By his own account, daytime is not Mr. Tim’s element, but in the late afternoons and evenings, especially in the summer, he likes to sit on his stoop with a Steel Reserve and call out to passersby. He even has his own catchphrase: “Dogs don’t lie and dogs don’t steal, but they do kill.” We never quite figured out what that means, but it seems to keep the undesirables away.

Despite his bluster, Mr. Tim is one of the sweetest men you’ll ever meet. He took a liking to us early on, probably because we weren’t afraid to stop and talk with him. He watches our car, helps Elise with the groceries, and on special occasions like birthdays and Mother’s Day, makes us banana pudding. He has saved every birth announcement, Christmas card, and thank you note with Henry’s picture on it and keeps them on a table in his living room. For Henry’s first birthday, Mr. Tim gave him a book of children’s poems that he owned as a little boy and a copy of To Kill a Mocking Bird, for “when he’s older.” With Mr. Tim around, we always felt like we had a good friend in the neighborhood.

Mr. Tim claims to be writing a book about his time in Columbia Heights. Chapter 23 is supposedly entitled “The Morrises Take Flight.” We’re not sure his book will ever make it to print, but we were grateful to get to know Mr. Tim and hear his stories. Mr. Tim always said “I’m not responsible for your education,” but we learned a lot from him.

* When he’s wearing his Howard sweatshirt, people often ask Mr. Tim: did you go to Howard? His reply: “A lot of people went to Howard. I graduated from there.”