Neighboring

Today in church our pastor discussed the art of neighboring. Many of the churches in our community are preaching on this subject in an effort to re-capture some of the neighboring instinct of the earlier 1900s. As he was describing what being a good neighbor entailed, I couldn't help but be entranced by the thought of bringing a little Leave It To Beaver to my own 'ville. The last home we lived in (a defunct rectory a few blocks from where we live now) I tried to introduce myself to our neighbors, but they were antisocial and they didn't want to get to know us. In fact, the neighbors who lived across the street even gave me the creeps! (When it came time to put out Halloween decorations, I'll never forget them hanging up bloody rotting zombie bodies on their porch and leering at me in my front lawn. Creeper town!!)

It's a little more challenging for me to "neighbor" the way the initiative implies now that Olls and I live on "the compound." What's the compound you ask? Well that's what my grandmother calls our end of town, since my family takes up an entire block. (She chose to call it that after the Kennedy compound, but we're really more like Everybody Loves Raymond.) I'm related to almost all of my neighbors and those select few who aren't actually on the family tree are old old family friends. Not only do I know all my neighbor's names, most of them have great nick-names like "Grandma" or "Mom" or "Uncle Phil." I guess people who aren't from rural Ohio might find this particular brand of family togetherness kind of odd, but it's actually very common out here. The closest homes to us across the field and down the road a "fur piece" are also a string of properties owned by members of one family.

This is our neighbor (not related) taking my little brother on a donkey
cart ride. The challenge was: if Steve could get Jack the donkey to
come to him then the neighbor would hook up the car and they would
take a ride together. Steve held out his cute 6 or 7 year old hand and said
"Come here Jack" and Jack came right over. My brother catches donkeys like a boss.
It's hard to imagine this photo was taken 10 years ago... Believe it or not, this same donkey still wakes me up many mornings.

After the church service let out I ran into a lady who lives a few country blocks away from us. She was attended by this younger gal who has been beyond sweet and nice in the few times I've had the chance to speak to her. I said something to the older lady about not needing to go very far to "neighbor" with each other, since we live so close. The young lady immediately said "Oh my gosh, we should have a cookout!" I've never been particularly good at making girl friends since I got married, but she's so nice and genuine that I found myself enthusiastic about this neighboring project. Cookouts, waving when we drive by, driveway plowing, the occasionally hand-delivered garden flowers or fresh pie. These things are so simple and cheesy, but if they give someone else even a little of the lightened mood I experience when she so eagerly suggested a get together, then maybe those little extras are the things missing from my "neighboring" experience. Besides, if any community should be able to figure out good neighboring, it would be our tiny family and faith based farming community. So, with all this extra time and energy on my hands, one of my housewife goals is to go out of my way to neighbor. If you have any suggestions of things I could do, or any great stories about great neighbors and their gestures from your own community, please share them!