Lynn and I had wonderful company last night, who even helped us clean up the kitchen afterward. At some point in the evening, these friends asked, "Have you met any of your neighbors yet?" We responded that no, we have not yet met any of them.
Later last evening, however, we decided to go for a walk. We turned onto several streets in our quaint subdivision, and explored one that we hadn't been on before. It was a dead end street set in behind, that had lovely homes on it and several large duplexes. We were admiring the neighborhood when a man came walking by us. We said, "Hello," of course, and continued walking. After a few steps, though, he turned around and said, "You fella's look new to the neighborhood!" We were surprised that he would know, since we weren't even near our own street! We proceeded to have a very friendly conversation with Ted and admired the size and design of his duplex. He then said, "Well why don't you come in and see it?"
We went in to see the duplex, met Sherri, his wife, and then proceeded to have an hour and a half long visit with these strangers/neighbors! We looked at pictures of their grandson and scrapbooks of their trips to Europe, and family pictures from weddings and such. Finally it was 11:00 pm and they offered to drive us home. I readily accepted because I was exhausted!
We exchanged phone numbers with these beautiful people and expect to connect with them again after their weeks of vacation.
Does that seem crazy to anyone else? Have you ever lived in a neighborhood with people so friendly? I'm simply amazed!
(Natasha)
1 comment:
I LOVE neighborhoods like that - but they seem to be a dying breed I'm afraid.
I wish ours was more friendly - and hope to initiate a neighborhood BBQ at our house before the end of the summer.
Currently we have fabulous neighbors on either side of us that we chat with regularly and we can easily ask to water our flowers while away - and vise versa. One neighbor even kindly mows our lawn (we'd never ask for such a thing!), even brings his mower around to our gated backyard, while we are away. So kind!! (Mya and I have spent afternoons making pies for our sweet neighbors - I'm trying to teach her the art of community living, being a friendly neighbor, and going out of your way to say thank you when people are kind to you....she loves those afternoon of baking and ringing door bells!!) But we really wouldn't know many other neighbors on our small street. I rarely even see people outside of their homes. Usually our "Hello"s!!!! are met with strange stares and a muttered "Hi" in returned. So sad.
However, when living in Kentucky it was AMAZING! People brought over extra crops they had (corn, watermelon, zucchini, etc.), always stood on the front lawns talking, brought gifts over when others moved in, had babies, etc.
Together with neighbors we planted gardens, cared for it together, and shared the veggies with anyone who wanted to come pick some. People gathered each other's mail automatically if they noticed someone was away. If a moving truck pulled up in front of a house, doors opened and people came out and offered to help unload it on the spot. It was lovely - I absolutely LOVED the neighborhood hospitality there. It went back and worth between us all. It brings back memories that immediately make me smile!!
I'm so happy that you are experiencing community like that in your first home. I'm hoping it comes back in our current neighborhood as we continue to try and meet and get to know people.
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