I've been working on this project with the group Real Voices Media. The goal was to flood social media and the Internet with "good vibes", especially during the election process. Basically, I am given a list of topics to choose from each week, and I make a 1 to 3 minute video on the topic.
This week the topic was about neighbors.
In the past I've written a lot about my neighbors. And, honestly, I do have AMAZING neighbors! Maybe I'm just lucky. Maybe it's a two-way street.
Either way, I am very fortunate that I live among some amazing people.
When Deus Ex Machina and I bought our house two decades ago, the first neighbors we met were the ones across the fence. We bought our house in December, and in the spring, when things had thawed a bit, we were out in the yard. They made a point of introducing themselves. I still have their business card for the "Born Again Christian Sanctuary."
We didn't agree philosophically about everything, but they were amazing neighbors, and we were incredibly fortunate to know them. The Missus didn't drive, and when the Mister started showing signs of age-related brain fog, I was just on the other side of the fence if they needed a ride. One winter, it snowed ... a LOT ... I mean, it IS Maine. They were worried about the vents on their heating system getting covered with snow. Deus Ex Machina went over and shoveled for them. When they knew they weren't going to can anymore, I inherited all of their canning supplies. What a bounty!
And they told amazing stories, too. They knew the original owner of my house. He was a close friend, and in fact, they had sold him the land to build this house. I am eternally grateful to them for their generosity to and friendship with Barney.
The first spring we lived here, we had a two-week stretch of gorgeous, warm weather in mid-April. So, I took my tomato starts outside and put them in the ground. The Mister saw me starting that first garden, and he inquired as to what I was doing. When I told him, he cautioned me that, normally, we didn't plant those tender plants until after Memorial Day, at the end of May. I scoffed. It was so warm! It was time!
That night, there was a killing frost, and I lost all of those plants.
He never said, "I told you so." I don't think he even ever mentioned those plants or that first little attempt at gardening in Maine. They both passed away a couple of years ago. I miss them. They were (are) wonderful people and very good neighbors.
When our neighbors across the street moved into their house in the middle of a February snowstorm, I headed into my kitchen and baked some muffins, which I took over to them and introduced myself - asking if we could help them out with anything.
They are great folks and have been a huge part of our journey. Sometimes in the summer, when I would be out in the yard working in my garden, the Mister would be playing his guitar. He had been a professional musician in the 1960s, and the music was that early folk rock sound. I'd be tying up tomato plants or making a cage for my potato towers and listening to those electric tunes, and I could imagine myself on a commune in those back-to-the-land days, working the garden with a live music accompaniment. It was meditative - my hands in the dirt planting something that would feed us or doing the physical work of tending my "land", while his music transported me to someplace higher - such as good music is wont to do. On those warm days, when I knew he'd be practicing with his windows open, I would find something to do out in the yard.
I have lots of stories about my awesome neighbors. We may not share holidays together. I don't know when their birthdays are. We don't even get together regularly for summer barbeques, but when we need something, we're there for each other.
A huge part of preparedness, for me, is that cultivating of kinships with my neighbors. There is safety in numbers. Moreover, those who have lived in a place for a long time, know things about that place, that maybe we don't know, and further, those who have lived long, know much. They may not always be able to share their knowledge in some linear or succinct way, but if we listen to their stories, they will tell us what we need to know.
I have been blessed to live in a place with very good neighbors, and I do know that I am fortunate. And yes, every day, I am thankful.
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