I love my home. Every single thing about it. I deliberately chose the paint colors to be soothing and neutral to keep from competing with the natural beauty through the picture windows. Its clutter-free because I’m a strong believer in a clean home helps with a calm mind. I fancied it a Zen mountain retreat until this past fall. That’s when a neighbor who owns land next to my home dropped off 15 goats and 2 sheep dogs. The dogs bark incessantly. Now I dream of selling my home. The only space that feels peaceful is my deck after yelling empty threats to the dogs through the woods. Then it’s back inside to my den of blood boiling anger. Sleepless nights, infuriating days. I’m losing it.
This isn’t my first time barking up the difficult neighbor tree. Our previous experience in home-ownership was in the suburbs of the Midwest. Across the street we had a meticulous retired school bus driver. She had the most beautiful yard that I’ve ever seen, she invested a significant amount of time making it just right. Unfortunately, for my family, she did yard work in a bathing suit. Or on one extra special day she wore a bathing suit cover up with nothing on underneath. And bending at the knees wasn’t her strong suit.
To the right of us was a family with three children. We would frequently find the oldest kid sitting in our car in the driveway, or standing in our yard staring at the front door while sipping on a Monster Energy drink. Every family member gave their opinions freely, but Monster (age 10) always added a mild insult. One day I opened the front door to find him on the other side. Here is how the conversation went:
Monster, “Where are you going?”
Me, “Target.”
Monster, “What are you buying.”
Me, “Clothes.”
Monster, “For the baby?”
Me, “No.”
Monster, “I hope it’s for you. I was just thinking that you really need some new clothes.”
Directly to the left of our home was a revolving door rental. Over the years we saw a diaper wearing toddler launching a bottle rockets in the driveway and a bird left in a cage on the back porch that would yell at us. They would park three cars in yard instead of the two car garage or extra large driveway.
One day after a storm Monster’s mom sent a text saying, “Have you looked outside?” Never good. A tree in yard of the rental house lost a branch and went straight through the windshield of my new car. That was frustrating, but not as upsetting as what happened during a storm six months later. After a hearing a loud crash we found a dead tree from the revolving door rental had fallen straight through our house. I could go on, but I’d like to save some material for the book I’m going to write about that charming neighborhood.
We’ve gone from the ‘burbs to the Blue Ridge mountains. We still have neighbors but there’s just more land between houses. I have one neighbor that I love dearly. She always seems to call and ask if I want to go for a quick walk at just the right time. She gives me homemade baked goods and watches my dog when I go out of town. We carpool to school and help with each others kids. We respect each others privacy and we’ve always got each others back.
Let’s all strive to be that type of neighbor. Aside from being sure to wear underpants while doing yard work and keeping your dogs from barking endlessly here are more neighborly tips:
Try to keep outside of your home tidy. Your neighbors have to look at it every day.
Make sure you return items that you’ve borrowed in the same condition and say thank you.
Invite your neighbors to your house for brunch or a BBQ.
Clean up after your pet and don’t let them wander freely. I promise you that not everyone loves Fluffy.
Avoid leaving holiday decorations up year round.
Absolutely do not be nosy and peek through the blinds. It’s super creepy and probably illegal.
