Cootersnap!

We all make snap judgments. When we do, sometimes it's really hard to 'come around'.

I've been living here, in my new house, for five months. In that time, many of my neighbors have stopped to introduce themselves. It feels like I'm part of a secret club of people who belong somewhere and, somehow, they're accepting of me.

That is, all but two. My neighbors to (what passes for) the east have never acknowledged me in any way. That is, until Sunday. My friends S and M (yes, those are their initials) came over to help measure and stake out the back yard so we could build a fence for the poog. Now, the lots in this little area of town are, in a word, screwy. There are ravines behind the houses on both sides of the street, and the road doesn't even begin to play into the grid. This doesn't really matter except to tell you one thing: my property line has been somewhat of a nebulous issue.

When S and M came over, we started on the side where the length was fairly clear in the plat map... and it took us further back than where my realtor had told me the property line ended. Ok, still with me? Bored yet? That's ok... this is a boring post. But while we were standing around befuddled, thinking this couldn't possibly be right, we discovered two more pins behind the garage of my neighbors to (what passes for) the west that clearly indicated the lot was, in fact, that deep. It was at this point M (a good ol' boy) decided to go knock on the curmudgeon's door - the man (and his wife) who had never spoken to me - and ask him if had any more information regarding the size of the lot.

Now S is a professional woman who has more tact in her little pinky than I do entire body. She thought maybe I should go do 'something else' while the old man came over. Not a bad idea, because I had it in my head these people hated me for some reason. Alas, he came over while I was still outside. Know what? This man was wonderful.

Not only did Bob tell us about his life and some of the history of my house, but he showed us that my yard is substantially larger than orginally believed, AND I have a beautiful maple to boot (one he planted decades ago when he thought it was on his land). There's a much better place for my garden and now I'm thinking a nice herb garden would work in the other place I had planned. This man made my day. On top of it all, he even offered up his compost container for my use OR I could have the second one that is empty. Talk about neighborly, eh?

All this time I assumed these people didn't like me... maybe because I'm a single woman, maybe they don't like my dog, maybe... who knows? But it turns out that I made a snap judgment. One that was wrong. And I'm really happy, for once, to be wrong.

(Yes, someday I will post pictures... maybe after the garden is in and the fence is up. 'Kay?)

This is a small college town. Those of us who live here year round breathe a sigh of relief in mid-March when, for a week, the students pick up and go to Cancun, Orlando or wherever. This is that week. Maybe that explains why life seems a little easier, a little breezier. Come Sunday, they'll be back, though, and those of us who live here year round will look forward to mid-May when our town will be transformed back into the relatively quiet little snooze that we all love. It's a great time of the year, and the down time allows us get our collective strength together to deal with the fall onslaught of bad drivers each new academic year brings. But it's winding down, my people... and we all feel it, relish it, look forward to it. I couldn't be happier.
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Tonight my neighbor, Mark, is coming over for dinner. Victor is out of town on business, so we will keep each other company and eat some good vegetarian food. I'm going to make Pasta Raphael and Mark will help me clip Gus' toenails... a job that requires two people.
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I've been thinking about relationships a lot lately. How we relate to our friends, our neighbors, our loved ones. Isn't it all about making others feel good about themselves? Isn't our duty in any relationship to buoy the other and hope they do that for us as well? As a single woman (something I've been feeling extraordinarily lucky about), my perspective may be skewed. I haven't been in a full-throttle relationship for quite some time, but recently someone made me feel good about myself. It's... important to do that for other people. And all it took was someone paying attention.
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This is my tenth straight day of working, and I'm looking forward to this Saturday at 6:30 when will I have the next 37.5 hours OFF. Time for rejuvenation, celebration and paying attention.
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Lastly, my very best friend (whom I haven't seen since October 2004) will be in town for a long wheeeeekend at the end of the month. Gigglefest 2006. I cannot begin to express how happy the thought of this makes me.

So with that, I say unto you: HAVE A GREAT HUMP DAY, everyone!! I know I'm gonna...

HOPE SPRINGS A TURTLE!