Being a Good Neighbor
When I was married I told my husband, “I don’t need the nicest yard on the street, just not the worst yard on the street.” Well, X hasn’t lived here in over a year and now I alone have to take responsibility for having The Worst Yard.
I’m not sure how things like this happen. Maintaining a house is a big deal, even if your house is smallish like mine is. My focus has been on keeping the inside of my house clean. This is no mean feat considering I co-hab with a seven year old boy with too many toys and two dogs that shed.
It still feels more important to me to have a clean kitchen and sparkling toilets than it does to have an immaculate front yard. I’m even giving in to the clutter that comes with a spoiled child in order to ensure floors you can sit on without worrying about what will be stuck to your butt when you get up off of said floor.
So tonight I picked up the sticks in the yard and put gas in the mower. Before I started the thing up I noticed my next door neighbors were out in front. I casually sauntered over and asked if they had mowed my yard last week. (Yes, it had come to that. Someone took pity on me and did the yard for me. None of my friends fessed up so I figured it must be them.) The guy who mows for a living said he hadn’t done it but maybe his dad did. Why would he do that and not tell me? How could I thank him? (Thinking at this point that I’ll buy a 12 of Shiner beer and be even with the guy…) The adult son says “well, maybe he wants you to do something with your yard.” Whoops.
There it is - the truth - staring me in the face. I haven’t been able to do it all. I haven’t been able to do the homecooking, the interior cleaning, the garage orgaization project, the work that I brought home from the office, the game of Battle with Lightsabers, the homework oversight, the laundry, the etc. AND do the yard.
Despite the fact that I cannot afford it I walked around the yard with The Neighbor Son and committed to having him rip out some bushes and trim some hedges next week for the bargain price of $75. Mind you, I have been without a clothes dryer for two months because I can’t/don’t want to buy a $350 dryer. But I am going to spend $100 on my hedges etc.
Why? So that I can get one step closer to being a decent neighbor.
