Neighborino

 When we moved, we met our new neighbor behind us. She's an elderly woman, and she's a little fussy. She doesn't like the dog barking. She complained that we let climbing vines grow all over the back fence, and on a section of the fence along the street. It's ivy. It's pretty. It's protective and gives us privacy.

"That's where rats live. In the vines," she complained. 

No, honey. Rats don't live in vines that grow along a fence. 

She doesn't like that we let our garden grow wild. She recommended her landscaping service. No thank you, I'm not interested in paying for gardening when I have a 24 yr old who likes to mow the lawn. 

The first time we used the firepit, she commented the next day that the previous tenants "didn't do that."

"Do you like having camp fires?" 

Uh, yes we do.

What are you saying. Do you not want us doing camp fires? Did this bother you somehow? 

"Oh, no. It's just that sometimes woodsmoke is smelly. It's okay, it's okay," and she walked away.

Tonight she came over and complained about the pile of wood we have in the backyard, and the wood behind our shed, which she can see from her backyard. 

"I have to look at it," she said to Doug. "It may be your yard, but it touches my yard. And I do not like to see it.

The wood behind the shed was was there when we got here. God only knows how long it was there. We obtained the pile of wood on our patio earlier in the summer, for using in the fire pit. Before it turned 900 degrees. 

"I do plan on burning it," Doug told her. "I'm waiting for it to be cooler at night. It'll be taken care of. " 

"Oh. in a camp fire?" 

"Yes," Doug replied. "It's just been too hot to do that, and we are waiting. But I'm going to take care of it." 

"Oh." 

We can tell this does not please her. I emailed my property management company to give a heads up that the neighborlady was fussin' at us. Took pictures of the wood behind the shed, and our wood pile. I just told her that "we feel there's no need to fuss, but if she does, let us know. We'll deal with it." 

The neighbors across the street got a new porch light this past weekend and it is the kind of thing I feel like I should go fuss. 

Now, compared to the wood behind the shed that my back neighbor has to "look at," I'm dealing with this raggedy nonsense that can be seen from the international space station, shining into my livingroom and my bedroom at all hours. 

I'm not fussing at them, though.

My neighbor sees the value in having a safe spotlight for his front porch (and ... the whole damn street).  I'm not sure if they are turning it on intentionally or if there is a motion sensor, because it will be off all night and then turn on at 3am. And then my dog thinks it is morning, and time to eat.

We're going to go buy better curtains - it's something we've wanted to do for the bedroom anyway, since the window faces East and boy oh boy is Juliet the Sun. Our old bedroom face west and it was never a problem in the mornings because heck, no sun shining in your face through the blinds. 

There are neighbor things that you fuss over, or choose not to fuss over, or fuss without like a truly valid reason to fuss. 

It makes me miss our neighbors up the street, who were always down to come over for a camp fire, who have the coolest baby. 

Here's to hoping it is about 70 degrees on Saturday, that Tony & Betsy are free to come over, that we can stream a bunch of JRAD, Guster and RatDog on the portable speaker, and deplete the pile of wood that annoys the back neighbor, before the light turns on for the front neighbor's sun display.