The Neighbors
I recently took a walk around my neighborhood and discovered some different approaches as to how people perceive their homes. I am not quite sure what people think they see when they look at their house, but obviously it is not what I am seeing.
My new neighbor down the street sees two lovely dogs now free to romp through the suburbs. I see two rottweilers who love to charge children and little dogs when walking past their house. They see nibby neighbors who are infringing on their enjoyment of their free wielding pets. I see the dog warden who has been out to their house twice already about local leash laws.
The neighbor up the street from me sees a humanitarian effort to employ homeless people and convicted felons. I see a house whose landscaping has been torn up for the past 2 years with a bulldozer permanently installed in the front yard because the owner can’t get anyone to come in and finish the job his derelict crew couldn’t complete. He keeps promising to take care of the eyesore, but only when the Gitmo detainees are given work release privileges.
The house in back of me was beautifully landscaped. When it sold, the new owners moved in, and they see a house with all of the overgrown bushes removed over which a proud new flag pole flies the both the United States flag AND the Ohio flag. I see a house which was beautiful before, now torn completely up for over 1 ½ years, with a flag pole stuck in a bunch of uncut weeds in front of a pile of dirt covered with a bright blue tarp which is now a permanent fixture, along with the pile of mulch in the middle of the driveway that has been there since the beginning of April. The shades are always drawn, and occasionally the owners come out at night and plant a 4” bush, then look at it.
The neighbor around the corner sees beautiful rocks which will line his rock garden through which lovely ivy will grow. I see a pile of stones that have sat in the middle of his driveway for 5 months, with no date in sight in which they will be installed somewhere around his cluttered house. A wheelbarrow was added to the top of the pile this weekend. It is red. Nice touch. He drives around this mountain of stone to get into his garage, every day!!!!!!
The neighbor the next street over sees her house free of trees so her beautiful edifice can be appreciated by all the neighbors. I see a lady who was most likely too lazy to rake leaves in the fall so she chopped down her old growth trees exposing her industrial grade front doors, and her roof which is badly need of repair, not to mention the mounds of dirt where the trees used to be.
The best has to be the roofer who lives 2 streets over who had 5 of his pickup trucks parked in his front lawn, complete ladders and roofing materials, and signs giving his telephone number. Unfortunately, he left his garage door open, and one could see that he is clearly running a roofing business out of his house, as if you needed a hint or something with the trucks and all.
I am generally against neighborhood associations with strict enforcement powers as is the trend in new housing developments today. Then I take a walk in the neighborhood, and I begin to wonder. What do these people see when they drive into their driveways? Or maybe they are too busy looking at their crumbled driveway aprons that have needed to be paved since before the Civil War. Or...is that just a new natural look to their entrance ways? Only the plat restrictions and the zoning board will know, and soon.
My new neighbor down the street sees two lovely dogs now free to romp through the suburbs. I see two rottweilers who love to charge children and little dogs when walking past their house. They see nibby neighbors who are infringing on their enjoyment of their free wielding pets. I see the dog warden who has been out to their house twice already about local leash laws.
The neighbor up the street from me sees a humanitarian effort to employ homeless people and convicted felons. I see a house whose landscaping has been torn up for the past 2 years with a bulldozer permanently installed in the front yard because the owner can’t get anyone to come in and finish the job his derelict crew couldn’t complete. He keeps promising to take care of the eyesore, but only when the Gitmo detainees are given work release privileges.
The house in back of me was beautifully landscaped. When it sold, the new owners moved in, and they see a house with all of the overgrown bushes removed over which a proud new flag pole flies the both the United States flag AND the Ohio flag. I see a house which was beautiful before, now torn completely up for over 1 ½ years, with a flag pole stuck in a bunch of uncut weeds in front of a pile of dirt covered with a bright blue tarp which is now a permanent fixture, along with the pile of mulch in the middle of the driveway that has been there since the beginning of April. The shades are always drawn, and occasionally the owners come out at night and plant a 4” bush, then look at it.
The neighbor around the corner sees beautiful rocks which will line his rock garden through which lovely ivy will grow. I see a pile of stones that have sat in the middle of his driveway for 5 months, with no date in sight in which they will be installed somewhere around his cluttered house. A wheelbarrow was added to the top of the pile this weekend. It is red. Nice touch. He drives around this mountain of stone to get into his garage, every day!!!!!!
The neighbor the next street over sees her house free of trees so her beautiful edifice can be appreciated by all the neighbors. I see a lady who was most likely too lazy to rake leaves in the fall so she chopped down her old growth trees exposing her industrial grade front doors, and her roof which is badly need of repair, not to mention the mounds of dirt where the trees used to be.
The best has to be the roofer who lives 2 streets over who had 5 of his pickup trucks parked in his front lawn, complete ladders and roofing materials, and signs giving his telephone number. Unfortunately, he left his garage door open, and one could see that he is clearly running a roofing business out of his house, as if you needed a hint or something with the trucks and all.
I am generally against neighborhood associations with strict enforcement powers as is the trend in new housing developments today. Then I take a walk in the neighborhood, and I begin to wonder. What do these people see when they drive into their driveways? Or maybe they are too busy looking at their crumbled driveway aprons that have needed to be paved since before the Civil War. Or...is that just a new natural look to their entrance ways? Only the plat restrictions and the zoning board will know, and soon.
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