Fences and Neighbors

Wherever I have lived, I can count on one hand, unfortunately, the number of neighbors that I have come to know.   At our home in Memphis, we only knew the one family beside us and that relationship was nothing more than a passing wave of the hand as we moved quickly from our car into the caverns of our respective homes.   Living in Madison, WI wasn't any more conducive to friend making, as we only met our next door neighbor when a tree fell in the yard, six months after moving in.   I would like to think that our family is very sociable when it comes to entertaining and mingling with the neighborhood crowd, but we just aren't.   When we lived in Appleton; however, we became close friends with our next door neighbors and even kept in touch a little bit after moving away, but alas, that too became a relationship that ended.  

Monroe, on the other hand, appears to be that kind of town where your next door neighbor is either next door, obviously, or on the other side of town.   Going to the store, catching a movie, or just walking around the town square will almost always end up in a 30 minute conversation with an old pal or one of those new friends we are always trying to make.   The sunflower picture I took isn't in my garden, rather, in our next door neighbor's garden, lovingly referred to as "Charlie and Lola".    All the parents reading this would get the reference.   Charlie and Beverly were literally the first people we met when we moved in. Not an hour after arriving at the house, and sweating profusely from moving our furniture in, they stopped by to say hello.   When we were completely exhausted later, Beverly stopped by to offer us some fresh cookies and to welcome us again.   Their garden is one that is award winning.   They showcase their flowers and vegetables each year at the fair and usually come home with several ribbons.  
They also love to spend time with our daughter, as she reminds them of when their kids were little.   Charlie and Bev are just two of the many neighbors we have come to know here in Monroe with another 9,998 neighbors to go.