Neighbors

People say they don’t want to live close together and that may be true.  We live in a townhome and seldom have neighbors on either side so we got a good deal.

We also know the people in every “block” who live here year-round.  We need to know them because of snowstorms, blackouts, and whenever the Interstate is closed.  We help each other in any kind of emergency.

As luck would have it, we have a plethora (see The Three Amigos) of great cooks in the neighborhood.  Why do you think I didn’t tell you where this neighborhood is?

One is a pastry chef and author, another an expert cook with eclectic tastes.  Add me and we have a dinner party every couple of months and just change houses.  If others are invited, they bring wine.

So, today I was mauled by three kittens, don’t laugh, at my volunteer job.  I made sure all of them had their nails trimmed as they’d mauled a staffer yesterday.  I was walking with them making sure they were all set in a room while I went about my duties and my hands were bleeding – I looked like I’d just committed a murder and was wandering around waiting for the police to show up!

A neighbor we helped as he had a fire truck and ambulance at his house a couple of weeks ago (my husband and I helped out and he’s fine) called out and laughinly asked if I needed an ambulance.  I said no but was glad that he knew people.  Close neighbors can say those kinds of things.

Puncture wounds are tricky but I’m doing my best.  Neighbors are tricky.  Some become good friends (luckily the ones who can cook and those who are interesting at the dinner table) and others can make your life miserable.  We’ve been here over two years but are not supposed to have our dog with us so certain people have made it their life’s work to make our lives miserable.

I feel sorry for the people who try to make our lives miserable as they have nothing else to live for, and that’s sad.  In another venture I campaigned valiantly for a positive cause and outcome, only to be frustrated by naysayers for years.  We gained a few yards on the battlefield but I was stalked, my tires were flattened, I got a police summons whenever I parked the car legally on the street for an hour, was photographed and defamed in the press.  All because these people had nothing else to do but go against people who wanted a few legal leash-free areas for their dogs.

We didn’t do nasty stuff in return, only got published in the NYTimes and local papers and did our best to be responsible dog owners. C’est la vie.  I’m over that now but every neighborhood has friendly people and a complainer.  The complainers tend to get their way because of the squeaky wheel theory.  The rest of us live our lives and don’t care that Cindy has blue shutters and the trend is white.

“Do unto others” is my motto.  I water plants, take care of dogs, host dinners and generally garner good will.  The negative neighbors have none of that karma going their way.  I’m always happy when I can be helpful to my husband, our familes, work colleagues and friends, and our neighbors.  To neighbors, Dee