I'm Studying You

I challenge you to a game of horseshoes!

I'll admit it. I'm not very neighborly. Not that I'm not a good neighbor; I just don't know them very well.

The houses in my neighborhood are really close to each other. I can stand in my driveway, spread my arms out and almost touch the neighbor's house. And the guy on the other side of me, well, his driveway ends at the front of his house, so our houses are even closer.

I'll have been in my apartment for seven years at the end of this month. I remember that because it was Memorial Day weekend when I moved in. The couple that's on the side of my driveway have been in their place since before I moved in. They've been trying to sell that house for about as long. And I don't even know their names. I say hi to them and stuff, but have never made the formal introduction.

The family on the other side...kinda weird. Lotta kids. I'm assuming not all live there permanently or come from the same set of parents. Haven't seen the mom around in awhile. And the only reason I know Al's name is because he left me his phone number when the kids broke my storm window. They've been there maybe three or four years.

Al has a dog. A big one. I'm guessing it's at least part rottweiler. Barks loud. But it's well-behaved. And for the second time in a week, I have come home to find this dog in my backyard. I don't normally have a problem, because the dog is nice and usually comes when you call it (and no, I don't know the dog's name either). But last night, I caught the dog in mid-squat. Ohhhh helllll nawwwww! Your dog crapping in my back yard is something I will not tolerate.

Luckily, I didn't literally scare the shit outta him (I know, bad pun...call the bad pun police). But I hafta figure out how this dog keeps ending up in my yard.

And as a testament to how well these kids don't know me, the first time I returned their dog, the oldest thanked me and asked me if I lived around the corner or something. Yikes. I guess they never see me spending enough time sitting in front of my house. And last summer, one of the daughters said "Are you the guy next door? I was looking in your window...you've got a nice place!" Double yikes.

The neighbors in my apartment, I have no choice but to get along with. Here's the layout of the place...I have the entire first floor and the basement. It's big for what I pay in rent. Lotsa space. Upstairs in the front apartment is my landlord's brother, Jack, and his wife Diane (and I'm so not making that up...and this is not a little ditty about Jack and Diane) and their teenage daughter. The back half of upstairs is actually two large rooms. In one room are Jack and Diane's two teenage sons, and in the other room is my landlord's brother Eddie. On the third floor is a makeshift apartment for their brother Bernie. Good thing my landlord and his wife consider me family. They're all good people and there's never any problems. They were even nice enough to bring me down some homemade lasagna the other day (and ladies, here's a tip...a quick way to get to my heart? Make a good lasagna ).

It's the little things we do for each other and look out for and help each other. Watch each other's mail, take out the trash, offer up the newspaper when we're done with it, use their bikes. Good people. A lot of my mornings are spent hearing Eddie's stories out front while we wait for the mail.

So that's pretty much all I got for today. Gorgeous day, perfect for shorts...until I just noticed that my socks don't match . Lovely. Enjoy a nice summery song that kinda touches a little on family and harmony. Hope it's sunny wherever you are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g40c6iAEHpc