In the Neighbourhood

When we arrived in our new neighborhood last fall, it was almost 9:00 pm and we had a packed moving van, a rental truck, and 2 very full cars to unload. As we looked at our smallish newish house (well smallish and newish compared to the country home we had left behind),we panicked. Would everything fit?

Almost immediately we were distracted by our new neighbours. People with kids, people with canes, people with dogs, all stopped to welcome us. They told us we wold love it here in this friendly neighbourhood with the mature trees and winding streets. They weren’t wrong.

A couple of days later, just as we drove into our driveway from a shopping trip, we met Greg. Greg lives next door and he dropped by to introduce himself. We said, “Hello Greg can you help us carry this freezer we just bought into our laundry room?” How nervy is that? But we were desperate. After years of living far away from grocery stores, we were attached to the idea of a freezer in our lives. But you can’t use a freezer if it’s in your trunk.

Without grimacing too much, Greg picked up one end of the freezer and my husband Peter picked up the other end. I acted as door opener. We managed to manoeuvre it around several corners and into its place in the laundry room. Greg readjusted his spine and left, rather in a hurry I thought. I didn’t even have a chance to mention the sofa bed siting in the hall.

Our other neighbours have been equally helpful. One couple revealed that they have a snow blower which the husband drives around on snowy days, and he uses it to shove people out. We tried to stay calm as we digested this exciting news. We had left our tractor back in the country and were worried about what to do with snow in the driveway. Maybe in the city they didn’t get any snow? We naively hoped.

One family has been especially nurturing. Every morning they send their cat, Minou, over to see how we are doing. She appears at the back door around 6:30 am to make sure we got through the night alright and, by the way, do we have any treats? She puts a smile on my face as she rubs against my legs and waits for me to open the package. She comes back later in the day if she sees we have company, especially grandchildren who love to give her treats too. If not, she settles for pats instead.

Many other people stop by to chat when we are out gardening or as we walk up the street towards the shopping area. People are very friendly and helpful. No wonder there are very few homes for sale. Who would give this neighbourhood up?

There IS one set of neighbours who have been a disappointment. In fact, they have left a gaping hole in our lives. Right beside us. These neighbours abandoned a perfectly good house to move somewhere else, turning the building over to destruction by machine. Soon a new neighbour will rise from the depths. The house will be more than big enough to hold all their furniture, and ours too.

This may not be the neighbor we had hoped for. But it Will be a chance for some lifelong learning. As the doctors always remind us, we oldies have to keep those synapses firing. So, if we ever wanted to study architecture or foundations or brick-laying or plumbing or drywalling or electricity, now is our chance! We’ll have our very own window on this learning opportunity.

But, most of all, this could be a rich source of material for many future posts. Thanks, neighbour!

Sue