Saturday, February 26, 2011

Welcome to the Neighbourhood

Neighbours:  They moved into the neighbourhood 15 years ago, out of a small house, to a brand new one.  One happy family, a mother father and daughter.  The neighbourhood was safe and Brady Bunch like.  Their daughter could ride her bike with other little girls, around the neighbourhood.  Before you knew the family had been there 15 years, the bike riding little girl had grown up and moved on with her life as she should.  The two parents, moved on with there life, the wife retired, the husband worked part time, and the neighbourhood changed as all neighbourhood do, people moved and came and went.  The wife who had worked most of he adultlife,made adjustments, and got a routine going .  One day she  realized that she really did not know the negibhours on her street all that well.  Because she had worked most of her life and had friends who were outside of the neighbourhood she did not need to make an effort with the neighbours other than hi how are you, and small chit chat on her way out and into the house.  Now that time seemed somedays to stand still  she had time to wonder about the neighbours   .  She knew some things, by her observing the comings and goings of the street.  There were  two doctors  who were married to nurses.  She knew one Doctor was an emergency room dr.  because she had seen him there.  He had looked and her and in his eyes she knew he knew who she was but he did not come over and say anything and she did not make the effort to do so either..  She knew the family two doors down had come from Russia, and he was a engineer and the wife was a part time worker at a retail store.  She knew the retired couple on the corner were retired, that the wife looked like she was anorexic and walked constantly at all times of the day and night.  The husband rode his bike, and motorcycle and truck, and never walked or talked or waved.  She knew the young couple on the corner, an out of work schoolteacher and a pharma salesman who travelled alot were not happy.  She knew the new family next door to her were happy, and nice , two boys who didn't go to school but looking for jobs, a mother who stayed home, a sister who lived there and was retired, and a husband who worked early in the morning and late into the night and a dog that never got a walk.  Then there was the couple who had three girls, two dogs and a nanny, who shovelled his driveway down to the cement, but in the summer did not take the tree cuttings out to the garbage and where they still resided beside his house  one year later. Where he had two huge dogs, who never got a walk.  Where both parents were not working, but yet still had the nanny and let her walk to the bus in 40 below weather while they remained warm and cozy in there house.  Those all were the  neighbours who did not know her name, she did not know there names either except for the neighbours on each side of her.  She decided that it was fine with her that she did not really know who they were, but she knew enough about their life's that she did not want to know anymore.  She did wonder what they thought of the family in the White house with blue trim , who had two grey hondas, who had a daughter who used to park her car on the street, but was not there anymore.  Did they to look out there windows and surmise they knew about the life behind the windows.  But in all cases of the neighbours on her block they knew one name of someone in her family , they knew Devil Dogs name Sofie, the only sociable one in the family, who if she could would have gone and kissed everyone on the block.

4 comments:

  1. its so true this post - we think we 'know' our neighbours but really we dont... and I prefer to surmise what their lives are but not to get too close to them. so well said!

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  2. Lovely story and adorable painting :)

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  3. We have lived in our house for 10 years and only "know" the people on either side of us....that is to say "hello" and "how are you" The rest of our neighborhood is a complete mystery to me. I miss the days of having a front porch to sit on and visiting with people as they walked by. Now I'm really showing my age!

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  4. Lee..wonderful post! And so true. I have the luck to live next to 'aunt' not related though, I know them my whole life though, a nice old guy right next to us, we talk alot in the garden and not so nice neighbours across the street. Oh and not to forget my granma two houses down. So for me it's okay not to know those other two across the street, like you said in your post.

    Smiles, Anke ;)

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