getting to know the neighbors
Posted By Sherry on May 8, 2006
Just before we left on our “blowout” ride I spent some time pulling weeds around the yard. From the backyard I heard the sounds of a father and his four-year-old son who live two houses to the east of us. I looked up and noticed the little boy was cruising the sidewalk on his skateboard, and I had a brief nudging to put my yard tool down and cross the street to talk to them. But my agenda won out and I stayed at task.
At best I might call us waving neighbors: We know who they are and they know who we are but we’ve never actually had more than a friendly “how’s it going?” conversation if we happened to be outside while they walked past our house. But lately, via some interesting pathways, I’ve discovered their blogs and I visit them regularly. I’ve learned about Amy and Bren’s experience of adopting two sons from Korea, Amy’s thoughts about teaching and raising kids, Bren’s joy at watching Truman learn to skateboard with proficiency. I’ve even watched long movie clips of Tru at the local skatepark and attended family events through their Flickr account.
I won’t overanalyze my choice to pass up an opportunity for human encounter on that Saturday afternoon. If Mauri and I didn’t already have a timed plan in place I might have seized the moment to greet Bren and Tru and exchange some neighborly chit chat. But I did pause to muse about the big picture and the fact that it’s easier to get to know my neighbors through the World Wide Web than to bake a loaf of banana bread and walk two houses east to say to them in person, “Hi! Got a few minutes?”
Or…”hobble” two houses to the east, as the case may be…
Hey, if home-baked banana bread is part of the deal, how ’bout walking just a little further to visit our house??
I’m too often guilty of passing up serendipitous opportunites, those occasions when the Lord puts someone directly in my path and I’m so busy about my “agenda” that I pass it up. I rationalize it by reminding myself of how limited my “free time” is. Then I wonder why my soul often seems bereft. Thank you for reminding me that I need to go back and reread “Tyranny of the Urgent”! Wish I lived across the street from you, or across town–we’d be having that cup of tea I’ve been longing for!
We currently have the best neighbors EVER. I do think it started with taking them cookies when they moved in. There are 10 women, Asher calles them “The Girls” all in school. They are unbelievably kind and fun. They have been a total and complete God send to me. I am not “close” with any of them, but I feel cared for, and I know my kids are loved, by them. I would say, hobble some banana bread over, or some store bought cookies if baking is a challenge, and say hi.
*waves*
[...] It was hard to pick what page to link you to on this site. You’ll see our neighbor Bren, who hosts this intriguing look at various people in Newberg (our little town) and the Willamette Valley. Bren is the same neighbor I wrote about here. [...]