Neighbors

The neighbors on either side of my new house are the same people who were the neighbors when my grandmother lived there. Well, sort of. This is true on the South side of my property, but on the North side there has been a bit of attrition. The house there is also a double-block, and half of it still has the same people who used to live there - nice people who remember me, even though I do not remember them. I remember the people who lived on the other side of their house better, but they have all died or moved on.

These neighbors are really nice people. Friendly, chatty, a bit, shall we say, inquisitive, which is as good as an electronic intrusion detection system any day. And more than that: when I stopped over yesterday to mow my lawn with my Sears Craftsman reel mower, I was a little surprised at how thorough a job I appeared to have done on the front portions last Thursday, since everything still looked neat and trimmed. Then I walked into the back to get my mower and received a shock: the entire lawn was freshly mowed. I don't know for sure who did it, but I suspect it was my North-side neighbor. I had been warned that he has a riding mower for his relatively small lawn, and he enjoys using it. But to get to my yard he would have had to drive out through his back gate, down the alley to the far side of my property, and then through the opening where the fence used to be. I'll have to remember to thank him the next time I see him.

Sadly, the neighbors on either side are in their late 70's or early 80's and probably will not be my neighbors for too long. I'll try to enjoy their company while I have them.