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Monday, October 14, 2013

Neighbors

In "The Mending Wall", Robert Frost's neighbor claims "good fences make good neighbors." Fences have a way of separating what's yours from what's mine. Because we had a dog, we always put up a fence. No dog now and no fences allowed. I think the latter is a good thing.



We’ve been in our new house a month, and gradually we’re meeting our neighbors. We met the next door neighbors while the house was being built. Others stop by as they walk their dogs when we're out. They introduce themselves and welcome us to the neighborhood. Very friendly. Yesterday, there was a block party—sort of a “happy fall—good-by summer” party. A truly great way to meet neighbors—especially the ones who live behind us. You would think we would’ve met them before. Big problem. A large pond separates us.

When we first looked at lots, I wanted trees in our backyard. I like privacy. I wanted to be able to sit on our deck and not be seen. This brings to mind my daughter’s theme song for her kids. “You don’t always get what you want.” I didn’t get the trees. What I didn’t realize was the pond makes a good separator.

We had good neighbors at our old house. Friendly, helpful, watching out for each other. Like the people in Prairieville, the fictitious small town in One Red Shoe. Daria’s big complaint, though, is that everybody knows everything about everybody else, including the color of their underwear. But when it counts, the neighbors come to the rescue.

After meeting several of our new neighbors, I’m sure we’re in a great neighborhood.

How do you feel about neighbors?

The giveaway for the $25 Amazon Gift Card is still going on. Remember you can enter as many times as you wish. To enter, use the Rafflecopter below.

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The winner will be announced on October 31st.

Today, I’m also over at Kathy Wheeler’s blog where I share a deleted scene from One Red Shoe. I’d love some company. http://kathylwheeler.com/2013/10/14/deleted-scenes-todays-guest-diane-burton-giveaway/

11 comments:

  1. I like our neighbors (everyone keeps to themselves mostly, except for the occasional friendly wave) but my dream is to live in a little house in the middle of woods, surrounded by national forests, so I actually have to go looking for people if I want them around. lol I don't know when I turned into such a misanthrope. Glad you're settling in well with your new house!

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    1. At one time, I think Hubs wanted to live in the woods. He grew up in Detroit, sidewalks & walking to school. I grew up on a dirt road, neighbors far away, & rode a school bus. I longed for sidewalks and lots of neighbors. Now I'm more like you. LOL Thanks for stopping by, Kristen.

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  2. Where I grew up and where we lived for 35 years of our marriage, our neighbors were not close by and we had a lot of woods. The house where we live now has neighbors all around but luckily, they are all pretty nice and friendly. But we don't associate much. That's fine with me. It was my biggest concern when we did move...that I wouldn't like my neighbors. Good thing it's a dog friendly neighborhood. Glad you like your new house and neighbors.

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    1. How great that you have nice neighbors and a dog friendly neighborhood, Lucy.

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  3. That is one of my favorite Robert Frost poems! It's brilliant! Love the rhythm of it. Like Frost suggests, first you have to know what you are keeping in, or keeping out. We've lived in the same neighborhood for over 20 years now and we always joke that if one of us moves, the rest of the neighbors are going to have to go with them. Good friends! Sounds like you found a nice place, too, Diane! Best of luck to you with that and all of your writing endeavors!

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    1. It's wonderful when you find a place with good neighbors. Thanks so much, MJ, for your good wishes.

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  4. We had wonderful neighbors here, but they moved away. Now we are waiting to see who moves into their home. The rest of the street pretty much keeps to themselves and I'm sort of sad about that. I do like having neighbors that I know will watch out for each other, but I'm also sort of glad that there's no drama. At my old house the one neighbor literally sat on their porch and called the police on my children for playing outside in the common area. Geeezzz some people need a life!

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  5. Mostly we have great neighbors. We try to all help each other out, especially in the winter by helping those without snowblowers get their driveway cleared. Though, we do have a few who chose to live in their own little bubble and not say hi to or help out anyone.

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    1. Our former neighbors were like that, helping each other. In every neighborhood, I think you have those who keep to themselves.

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  6. Our current neighbor (the other half of our duplex) is very friendly, quiet, and overall very nice. However, living on a military base new residents swap out houses at an alarming rate, and we've currently lived on our block the longest. We've had our share of good and bad. With our last neighbors I was dying for a fence and some noise cancelling headphones, but our current round of neighbors have all been friendly!

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    1. That must be really hard, new neighbors all the time. I know what you mean about getting earphones. In our old neighborhood, we had 6 dogs behind us. When 1 barked, they all barked--often starting at 6 am. I don't miss that. Now if we could figure out how to shush the ducks in the pond. LOL

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