Neighbors

 

Neighbors

  Many decades ago, when this neighborhood was still under construction; the existing houses being rapidly occupied, and new homes, being built, that this was not an especially friendly neighborhood. We were all new to each other, and were hesitant to ask the kinds of questions that would lead to real familiarity.

  But all of that changed when Sam Harvey moved in. He has that kind of natural outgoing personality that makes him eager to meet new people. And so, he became a kind of one man welcoming committee. If the family moving in were not using professional movers, Sam would go and offer to help move the furniture into the house. He would introduce himself, and tell the new neighbors a few relevant facts about the existing neighbors. Then, when the opportunity arose, he would introduce them to each other.

  Some of the newcomers picked up immediately on Sam's friendliness, being happy to have a contact in their new environment. Others chose to remain aloof, but Sam never gave up. When the newcomer would drive past him, he would always wave, and if they were both outdoors working, and happen to catch each other's eye, Sam would always wave. And occasionally, one of these aloof personalities would eventually melt.

  I have already written about a few of our interesting neighbors in the posts on “Pets” and on “Blasting Away in Tidewater”. Here, I want take a more general look at the neighborhood. My attitude toward it has changed radically over the years. Many decades ago, on warm summer afternoons I would sit on a lawn chair in the front yard and translate German stories. I looked on neighborhood noises as a distraction, and I found the screaming talk of the children especially annoying. But all of that changed over the years, and the children's yelling became music to my ears. During those times when there were no children nearby, I missed the sounds of their playing and hoped that soon more families with children would come.

  I tried to talk to the neighbors more often and, encouraged by Sam, we began to have family chats instead of the previous man only and woman only talks. We actually had a few get-togethers, involving several families for lunch at a restaurant.

  The ethnic makeup of the neighborhood is interesting. Over the years we have always had at least one black couple, and several mixed couples: White-Black, Hispanic-White, Filipino-White, South Korean-Caucasian, Hispanic-Black. We have a family from India, and a couple from Myanmar. They both speak English, and they were among the fortunate few who were allowed to leave before the Military Regime crackdown. They are very friendly, and they show up at our front door every couple of weeks with homemade samples of their cooking. All-in-all, we feel very fortunate to dwell in such a nice neighborhood.

  Nowadays, it is nice to sit out front and have a neighbor occasionally drop by for a chat. We sit in the lawn chairs and tell each other anecdotes. Also, as I grow older, I am becoming more dependent on them. Several times heavy limbs have blow down, and a couple of friends would soon show up and, with a saw and axes, soon clear the mess away. This work is always gladly, and with a sense of humor. I suspect that they feel a bit like “every-day heroes”. And rightly so!

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