I'm not a fan of the soapie, but I am a big fan of neighbours. I love our house and garden, but what money couldn't buy was landing in an altogether friendly pocket of suburbia. As well as lovely adults, there is a bunch of kids around our boys' ages with whom I'm looking forward to them growing up. And it's the sort of street, without us being overly chummy and all over each other, that there's no shame in asking a neighbour to collect your mail or feed the chooks.
The patriarch of the block is an elderly Sicilian gentleman (any lesser descriptor wouldn't be appropriate) who has been in the neighborhood for years (and spread his loquat seeds) who knows everything there is about everything. He's our real estate sales reporter, neighborhood watch and voluntary handyman, sometimes to the point of embarrassment: he ended up showing up, goods in hand, to fix our fence, then wouldn't accept a bottle of wine (he makes his own), or a cake (no good for his cholesterol).
Our next door neighbours were away for a few days after Christmas and asked us to put their bins out, and help ourselves to their ripe tomatoes. Good deal... until their bins migrated to the street without our input. Ok, we were too slow. Then, early the next morning as the boys and I waved to the garbage truck we caught a glimpse of the Sicilian rocket whiz out his gate in the truck's wake and return our neighbours' bins to their yard, still warm from the garbage truck's exhaust. With a small splutter I wondered, who needs good neighbors when you've got the Super Neighbour?
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4 comments:
IMO, every neighbourhood needs an elderly Sicilian gentleman. They are the 'doers' of everyday living for sure. My FIL happens to be one for which I am eternally grateful! x
Ohhhh you are SO lucky to live in a neighbourhood like that! Our first couple of homes we lived in, we had great neighbours but since building where we currently are - the blocks are all on different levels and it just doesn't make for conducive making friends with the neighbours.
We've lived here for nearly 5 years and we are yet to "make friends" with any of our neighbours - despite many attempts to smile and wave etc
Maybe we just have unsocial-able neighbours!
Enjoy your neighbourhood!
~x~
Oh, I want Sicilian gentleman neighbor! Though I fear that he would just show up and fix things in our yard, we are a mess of a family.
I love the way you describe the beautiful community that you have knit together, especially the kids part. Community gives a wonderful way to grow up - at any age!
I am also lucky to be living in a wonderful neighbourhood. My closest neighbour is a slightly eccentric older lady with a crazy dog. She is always buying gifts for my kids, will feed our dogs and loves popping over for a cuppa.
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