We’ve lived in our neighborhood for four years. There was no welcome wagon, no neighbor showing up to say hello with a pie. We did however meet one neighbor the day we moved in, but only because our toilet got backed up and we needed a plunger. That neighbor moved away the next weekend, before we could return the plunger…hmmm?

Slowly we’ve been getting to know people though. When our grandchildren were living with us and going to the neighborhood school, we got to know a few folks, mostly parents of the other kids who took the bus with Izzy and Kash. We still wave and say hello as they pass by walking their dogs or stand at the bus stop each weekday morning.

One of our neighbors is actually the custodian at the elementary school nearby. We didn’t realize that right away, it wasn’t until the kids came home one day and told us. He’s another of the neighbors that we acknowledge occasionally over the fence that separates our two yards. Over the past year Steve’s struck up a enough of a friendship with the custodian to actually borrow yard improvement equipment.

Steve had wanted to rent a rototiller to expand the garden so he could include a wider variety of herbs and vegetables. He’d started the seeds in the garage, keeping the seedlings properly lit and heated for weeks before putting them in the ground (I have the electric bills to prove it). Over the fence one day Steve and our neighbor were talking about how difficult the soil can be and he offered Steve the use of an older model rototiller. Steve worked the soil like any good farmer, tilling and then sifting out all the rocks and bones and other particulate matter that might not provide the appropriate growing environment for our crops.

Our neighbor’s generosity has helped us to be in tomatoes, herbs, watermelon, and spaghetti squash beyond what we could have expected. For that, I’d like to thank our neighbor and we’ll share some of our homemade tomato sauce with him sometime this winter.

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