Lakewood Hills Life - That's the Life For Me

There’s a crazy lady in our neighborhood who appears to be making it her life’s goal to be a pain in the ass to her neighbors.  But I guess there’s one in every neighborhood.  Right?  This is what I tell myself. 

I know many people must believe that their neighborhood is special and extraordinary.  But ours really is.  No really.  It is. 

 

When I turn off the county road and onto our little drive, everything changes; the light, the smells, the sounds.  It FEELS like home.  So I focus on that and not on the close-minded attitudes of the few and far between.  I focus instead on the community I have here.  The friends I’ve made.  The neighbors I can call for help at a moment’s notice – and who have been there for me.  The neighbors I can drop in on and barely knock before I walk in the back door to the sound of happy hello's.  Or the neighbor who not only doesn’t mind if I drop by unannounced, but proceeds to feed me and share an entire bottle of wine between us.  Or the neighbor who regularly drops off her son’s outgrown clothes and toys for my grandsons. Or the neighbor who insists you come over and try out the hot tub on the spur of the moment.

 

I remember these friends and neighbors, not the neighbors who say one thing to my face and another behind my back.  Or who speak in third person about me (when everyone knows who they are talking about), when I’m sitting right behind them at the homeowner’s meeting.  I focus on the community we have that helps each other out when a tree falls across their road or driveway, a family pet is found, or a teen’s cell phone is lost. A community that volunteers their time and energy to keep our neighborhood connected by organizing holiday gatherings in the neighborhood’s common grounds; cooking and decorating and cleaning. 

 

When we first moved here ten years ago, there were a few events a year around Easter and Halloween.  Now we have a monthly ladies night, a yearly Christmas cookie exchange, a yearly plant exchange, not only an Easter Brunch and Halloween party, but we now have a pavilion in the park where these events are centered,  a separate Trunk or Treat in addition to the Halloween party, and a 4^th of July BBQ.  This year we are talking about adding a fishing derby in the Fall.

 

 

I’ve witnessed this community get tighter and tighter each year.  Even as the homes get sold and new families move in – there is now a concerted effort by the community to make them feel welcome – and it doesn’t just fall on the few designated neighborhood welcome reps.  We built a website and even have a Facebook page.  The community did this.  Those are the positives.  There are those that live here that don’t make a positive contribution to the neighborhood, who complain and cause strife.  And there are those who just lay low and keep quiet.  But for the most part, the COMMUNITY is a positive one comprised of the people who take the time to personally contact a neighbor about their loose dog or their fallen tree and not just verbally vomit at the nearest board member. 

It would be nice if those that just lay low and keep quiet would become more engaged. I’m of the personal opinion that inaction is still an action.  To quote George Bernard Shaw, "The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that's the essence of inhumanity." I’m from the South, and I grew up hearing, “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” 

Let’s play the what if game, shall we?  What if, instead of complaining about other people, we focused on improving our own shortcomings?  What if, instead of complaining about your neighbor’s house, you improved something in yours?  What if, instead of calling someone else to complain about your neighbor’s - whatever, you walked over and introduced yourself and struck up a conversation about – whatever (their bonfire, their chickens, their car, their dead tree)?  I don’t know why people don’t do this.  That is your neighbor.  They live right next door or a few doors down and you pass that house every day – evidently. What if, instead of spending time complaining, you actually talked to your neighbors?  Face to face.  In person.  What a concept, right?