What a wonderful start to the day! Perhaps all the neighbors got the memo to ask me how I was doing. I waved at Harmony as she was getting in her car, and she said Lisa was walking Rosie to the creek. Those were the next two I met. I would have been able to walk with them if I’d not had a slow start, putting the hummingbird feeders back outside when it was still just below freezing. Joyce stopped her car on the road to give me a thumbs up on her household. Everyone except the new baby caught the ailments of the week, and most were recovering.
As he waved, new neighbor Nate turned his head so that I could see his face clearly through the window. He stopped to introduce himself last week. He came from the northeast and moved here for work.
Woodman, so named by me because he prepares firewood for sale, came to the edge of the road while exchanging pleasantries. He currently doubts that Spring will come, and if it does, will rush right into Summer without pausing.
Ray stopped his truck to ask how I was, and his lovely black poodle joined him at the window. I haven’t spoken to Ray for a year or two, although we always exchange waves. The way he asked questions let me know he was aware that John had died and wanted to make sure I was getting along alright. What a kind thing to do! When he mentioned getting back, I asked where he and his wife had been. He said, “We always travel in our RV in the wintertime, below the snow belt. We might have come back a little too soon.”
A neighbor I’ve not talked to before stopped his truck and said, “I’ve noticed you’ve lost weight, and you’re doing really well.”
He remains nameless, because I didn’t want to interrupt his praise just to trade names. I noticed his face seemed almost gaunt and said, “I’m surprised you noticed. You don’t need to lose weight.”
Laughing, he replied that he used to weigh 300 pounds and got diabetes II. He researched foods and diets, quit eating junk food, and began to take care of himself. Our conversation turned into a mutual admiration society. What a boost that was! I hope he was as pleased as I was.
Most days I wave at a dozen neighbors as they pass me going to work or school, and I speak to one or two. This was a true bonus day, to wave at the commuters and talk to seven people, eight if you count Rosie.
Mehrling Muse 
Sounds like you live in a very friendly neighbourhood. I love it when neighbours stop by and say Hello! We are lucky to have such great neighbours here too.
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The South is noted for friendliness, although many of these neighbors did not grow up in the South. Maybe the atmosphere affects us.
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What a great day!
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You are indeed fortunate to have such interactions. None of my neighbors are close enough for talking, though on occasion I will wave to the one across the road if I am in the front yard and he is coming home or leaving. I have to get my “chat fix” at the grocery store!
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I never talk to anyone at the grocery store!
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You are so blessed .. some of us wish we could have the same encounter with our neighbors but …not anytime soon. Still having dog problems with some.
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We’re hoping to get Kacey’s barking under control before the neighbors make a real complaint.
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Sometimes barking is good . My complaint is they are killing my outside cats. I’ve buried 4 so far and had to call in the sheriff.
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That is sad. We are not supposed to let dogs run free here, although well-behaved ones are welcome. Kacey is not yet in that group.
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Better safe than sorry.
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You should definitely count Rosie! 🙂
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What a wonderful day! Of course we count Rosie!
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What a lovely day to interact with neighbors.
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What a great start to the day!
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What a have great day. You are so lucky you live in very friendly neighborhood. Of course we count Rosie.
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I clearly need to move there – the night of the fire I spoke to people who have lived here for years and never passed the time of day. I am now the only person remaining when we moved here in July of 1966.
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There is room for you in this area. Would you consider moving??
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For some reason I thought you lived on a short block, only six or eight people. I one time considered it for many reasons. I thought long and hard about moving before I got the generator. I realize that would be an asset to selling the house … I wrestled with it for a year … three is nothing for me here and the crime is getting worse. I worry about uprooting myself expense-wise as this house was paid for long ago. Otherwise, I have no ties here.
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There are seven houses on this dead end street. One does not participate in neighborhood things at all. Another is housebound with a spouse in dementia. There are five houses with eight people who are friends. I wrote of others who live between our street and the stop sign, the only exit from this development. The one who commented on my weight lives up the mountain. I have no idea who he is.
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I may have mentioned my grandmother was close to three or four of her neighbors. They were always thoughtful and many a Summer evening was spent on my grandmother’s front porch, sitting there until dark. My grandmother was responsible for dessert as everyone came to the porch after dinner dishes were done, so when my mom and I visited in the Summertime, there were two more ice-cream eating mouths to feed. My grandmother went through a five-gallon pail of ice-cream a week. Even the dog got his bowl of ice-cream. Funny as I hear now now not to feed dogs ice-cream. We always gave it to my aunt’s dogs and it didn’t bother them.
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I’m sure Kacey would vote to eat ice cream.
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We had neopolitan ice-cream, but Pache and Muffin only had vanilla, however, both dogs had “Jersey Milk” which were chocolate bars, like a plain Hershey bar. Guess they were made of hardy stuff. I’m sure Kacey would like that treat too.
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You paint such a warm picture of your grandmother’s porch. Marvelous memories!
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Every night – they looked forward to it and also had coffee together every morning … for my mom and I, it was an enjoyable oddity, as we were used to just us.
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Wow! A gathering twice a day! Was that only in warm weather?
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All year around they gathered in my grandmother’s house for coffee every morning – no food, just coffee and the “ice-cream social” was every night as soon as it got warm. My mom and I never had people dropping by like that so it felt odd to us – Marge or her friend across the street would call first, then pop in, but 99% of the time they just phoned one another.
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People didn’t generally drop in when I was growing up. We lived in a small town where everyone knew everyone else. We met regularly at church, in school, at the grocery store, and at the swimming pool.
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I always wished I lived in a small town. As I wrote the last comment I am positive my grandmother left her front screen and regular door open in the morning. I can picture the neighbors, especially the guy, (the rest were women) knocking once and shouting “can I come in?” then opening the door. Wouldn’t do that here/now with the front door.
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In TN we locked our door only when we went on vacation. On Long Island, I’d lock the doors if I went shopping, but not if I was in the neighborhood. Nine years ago, several of the neighbors here didn’t ever lock their doors. I don’t know if that is still true.
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I like the idea of Tennessee’s open-door policy. I am so used to locking the door here, that I can’t imagine it any other way. I lock the side door if I go to work in the backyard – that does not say much for the neighborhood or the City does it?
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