GlossyVeneer

Ironic, right after I post about how I miss the whole community feeling of neighborhoods in my life, I talk to my mom and learn of a recent experience she had with her neighbors.

Apparently the neighbor’s teenage daughter is getting married in their backyard soon. They informed my mom that she needed to clean up her property between their homes. My mom keeps her yard meticulous. In fact, it is fairly obvious where the property line is because my mom’s yard is landscaped and then suddenly you enter waist-deep weeds and old toys as you cross the property line. But they moved the junk into my mom’s yard, as if my brother and I have played in a plastic red Little Tykes car within the past few years and we just misplaced it in their yard. I don’t even think they had that brand when we were young. In fact, their house wasn’t even in existance when we would have been young enough to play with that kind of stuff.

The neighbors were also kind enough to inform my mother that she and my dad should plan on being out of town the day of the wedding, so the wedding guests could park in my parent’s driveway without worrying about blocking their vehicles.

Made me chuckle… But I still want to get to know my new neighbors.

Weather Check: 101�
Song Playing Now: Pickin’ It Up

Quick Memo to the jerk who called here at 1:28 AM and then hung up: Thank you for ruining my sleep. I haven’t slept a whole night in months and this could have been THE night.

Pete, the human ashtray that used to live next door to me, passed away this last week. I know I complained about the levels of smoke coming from his house, but he was really a sad, lonely old man and now he’s gone. I wish I had been a better neighbor in that 2 month time span I lived there. I did the whole courtesy wave thing, but I never really said much to Pete.

My brother and his wife were much better neighbors to Pete when they lived in the condo. My sister-in-law is a nurse, so she offered to help Pete with his medications. Pete used to invite them over for pizza and he used to call my brother for a ride when he was too intoxicated to drive himself home from the bar.

Isn’t that what is supposed to be nice about neighborhoods? The whole support system of people around you that you can call in times of need? I remember as a child we used to call on our neighbors for all kinds of things. My parents left us home alone one evening and a pipe burst. We called a neighbor and he came to help us. Another time when we were home alone, we got scared in the evening and called a different neighbor over to sit with us. Other neighbors used to come over and borrow ingredients from us (like vinegar, at 10:55 PM the saturday night before Easter). I feel like that system has kind of escaped me as I’ve entered into adult life. I don’t know if it feels that way everywhere in the world.

Pete’s passing just made me wake up and realize that I need to take a more active part in my community. I can’t just sit in my air-conditioned house, closed away from the world. Just little things like making a point to say hello to my neighbors when I go get the mail and work in the yard, that’s important.

Weather Check: 105�
Song Playing Now: In the Waiting Line by Zero 7