Neighbors
29/06/24 00:16

In October we will have lived in this house for three years. We are starting to feel at home here. We’ve been collecting the memories that make a house into a home - inviting friends over for dinner, sharing family meals around our dining table, hosting family members and friends when they come to visit, tending the plants and garden, planting a few new things, making a few home repairs, and just living day to day. By now I have multiple routes to familiar places. I’ve done enough wandering on the roads of the county to know where to buy honey from other bee keepers, buy berries directly from farm stands, find restaurants that serve the foods that we like, pick up straw for mulch in the garden, and a host of other items.
We are starting to get to know some of our neighbors. the couple in the house that is next to ours on the East we’ve gotten to know well enough to remember their names. We met in part because their cats came over to explore and visit and when they were looking for the cats and calling them we sometimes knew where they were. We know where the man works. He is a physical education teacher and coach at an elementary school in Bellingham and some of the children we know from church know and love him as a teacher. Coach John is one of the treasures of the school. But I can’t tell you what the woman does. I know she works away from the home, but I don’t know her job. They like to host small parties with a few friends. They will be away for much of the summer, and we expect we’ll get to know a son who will be stopping by to check on the place from time to time.
The neighbors to the west of our house are people about which we know almost nothing. We really see them out in their back yard and have never had a conversation with them. I can’t even tell you for sure how many people live in their house.
The folks to the north across our backyard fence smoke, but not in their house, so we see them on the back porch in all kinds of weather. The woman likes to speak on the phone when she is outside smoking and sometimes is loud enough for us to understand her side of the conversation. The man wears high visibility clothing to work and often comes out to the back yard in his work clothes. They have an adult son who either lives with them or comes over often. Their parties usually involve just a few others, but often are accompanied by loud music and lots of talking and the odor of marijuana, which is legal here.
Like us, the folks in one of the houses across the street from us moved here to be closer to grandchildren. They used to live in Casper, Wyoming, so know how to drive in the snow, a skill that is rare in this neighborhood. Then again, snow is rare, too. He works for the Washington State Ferry System. She works for a propane company. They have two grandchildren who visit often.
The widow down the street walks her dog at least a couple of times a day. We talk with her often and know her name. It hasn’t been long that she has been a widow and her grief is fresh, but she keeps her spirits up and is interested in others. I keep meaning to ask the name of her dog.
Around the corner live a mother and an adult son. They both work for an import/export business and know a lot of the towns in the US on the Canadian Border. They’ve both been to North Dakota in the winter and know where Grand Forks, the place where our daughter was born is. Her mother is a master gardener and has a greenhouse in Blaine where the daughter keeps her horse. We’ve been up there and we get our tomatoes and some other bedding plants from her. They are always high quality at very low costs.
The family across the street from them have a new baby. The baby’s name is Finn, but we don’t know the names of any of the others in the household, though we’ve had conversations with the parents and with the grandparents while walking around the neighborhood.
Another family down the street, next door to the widow, is Sikh. They hosted an elaborate wedding last summer and we enjoyed watching all of their guests come and go. We’ve visited with them and with their grandchildren, but we don’t know any names yet.
And across the street, next door to the folks with the Wyoming Cowboys bumper sticker on their truck, is another Sikh family. Their son is a good basketball player and used to play in the street with Coach John and with his friends. He graduated from high school last year, but continues to live at home. One of the products of this phase of his life is a newer car. He frequently has friends over to their house. Right now, however, the family is hosting relatives for a wedding. The house is decorated with lots and lots of lights. We think the basketball player has a sister who is the bride. We’ve seen her coming and going wearing a small veil. Like the other Sikh family down the street, they often host guests with British Columbia license plates and we think they, like many others, have relatives on both sides of the border. Just 20 miles away on the other side of the border is a very large Sikh community that hosted an event earlier this year that drew 60,000 people for a parade and community meal.
I wish we know our neighbors better. It would be really interesting to be invited to a Sikh wedding. We know that there are distinct ceremonies for introductions and the blending of two families. For some events they wear traditional dress and for others they wear western formal wear.
It is taking us time, but we are starting to feel at home in this place. I just wish we knew more of our neighbors. From what we can looking out our windows and walking around the neighborhood, they have interesting lives and will be fun to get to know.