#78. Make friends with the neighbours

I’ll start by telling you I live on a quiet street in a small town that is somewhat Wisteria Laneish in terms of cliques. The ‘originals’ seem to have all bonded during the building phase; we’re the newbies, or the younger crowd that is slowly moving in. Since we moved in in November 2009 two other homes on our street sold both to dinks (dual income no kids).

Making friends with the neighbours was harder than expected just due to age difference.

Beside us we have a widowed Dutch woman who is quite the character. Last winter the man I thought was helping me snow blow my driveway who I wanted to buy a case of beer happened to be this woman. She designed and built the house after her husband had passed away and takes care of everything herself. I awoke to the noise of a lawnmower at 8am one Saturday morning last summer to discover she deems cutting her grass during a lightning storm perfectly acceptable behaviour. I stood and watched with my phone in my hand waiting to call 911. I watched until she was finished and waited to see her return to her house, only to see her pop up her umbrella and take her tiny white dog named Brutis for a walk. Some people just can’t be helped.

Then there is the young couple across the street. They have a pool so it was key to become their friends. They are like watching us a year ago. Having moved from a condo to a house they had to buy shovels when it snowed and are slowly learning the upkeep of a yard. We bond over learning experiences and alcoholic beverages.

A co-worker introduced me to a friend of hers that lived with her parents on my street. She has a house of her own in another city but can’t find work there. Living with your parents in your twenties can definitely be difficult so we will often go for walks, drink, golf, shop…anything really. She’s become a great friend, and it’s nice to have someone so close by when T travels, or when I don’t want to drink alone!

Now if only warm weather would come so we could spend more time outdoors with our neighbours around campfires and pools than hibernating inside.