Neighbors

It is kind of cool living where we are. I have met the neighbors on all sides of me, and they are all nice. It sure is a different feel from Idaho where everyone has their yard fenced in and people never say boo to you.

I remember in our old house in Idaho we had a couple that lived across the street from us. They were probably our age on the dot. They had a boy that was a little older than our oldest, and I remember when I was pregnant with my daughter, the woman was pregnant with her daughter too. We would go and get our mail at the same time and I saw her pregnant tummy. I am not sure if they would wave back to us then or not. We were just under the impression that they did not want much to do with us. I don't think they ever did. Eventually, during our last couple of years there, we started to go out of our way to be friendly. We would wave at them when they drove by, say "hi" when passing, etc. They would barely pay us any heed though. I remember distinctly a few times I would be outside trimming that crazy hedge and the wife would drive by (we were the very first house on the street). I would wave to her and smile. She would look straight at me and then turn her head the other way. Nice.

I started to have dreams. I had dreams that she really in her deepest heart wanted to be friends with me and she finally invited me over to her house. I remember that her walls were splashed with vibrant colors and everyone knew her. I think she had original art too. I only think I had this notion because I saw her outside painting a big wooden Noah's Ark on the grass one time. I had many dreams like this though.

The man was fanatical about his lawn. He had a perfect golf course. I think he had something wrong with him, he was so particular. Dear Sir has always been somewhat eccentric about our lawn so maybe he had an issue with how we did things. Dear Sir is a complete green thumb and does tremendously well with the yard. He just dreams big and thinks long term. He is famous for planting tiny trees and freaking out when the kids would almost walk over them. And the hedge.

I actually walked over one time to see what their exact address was so I could look them up and at least know what their names were. I know, I am weird. It took me about six years to do this. After that Dear Sir and I always referred to them by their names (he didn't think me so odd to look them up, I was so relieved) when saying stuff like, "I waved at Mrs. Carson today. She was REAL nice." "Yeah, it looks like Mr. Carson is putting in some extra fence to block us out of their vision."
So, we have not had a lot of luck with neighbors except for the few (like the Real Estate agent that sold our house that lived across the street, or the widow next door who was really nice but pretty much kept to herself for the most part). I never understood my friend Jade who had neighbors wherever she went that she remained close to. One of them became one of her best friends and mentors. Another neighbor of hers traded off with babysitting. I remember her asking me one time when I did not have a sitter if my neighbor could watch the kids for me. "What, are you kidding?" I would say.

But here it is different. Here they actually find me interesting and want to be friendly. The kids and I have already been invited to a birthday party, I have a lady who has an Asperger's kid right next door to ask questions if needed (she came over to offer herself), I am watching the other neighbor's daughter (she has given me a beautiful solid wood bed for my daughter!), and then the neighbor across the street is the Orthodox priest of the local Orthodox church. They are all very nice, very helpful, and a relief.