won't you be my neighbor

i spent the long weekend keeping the Lowe's garden center in business. three trips later, i have some attractive flower beds, if i do say so myself. although anything would be an improvement over what was there. (i found a golf ball, a little green army man, candy wrappers, and roots that looked like they belonged to sweet potatoes.)

a big shout out to my neighbor-two-doors-down, willie, who tilled up the flower beds for me. not that he reads blogs, because he is like 65. anyway, willie is the sort of neighbor who is always mowing, weedeating, blowing, or pressure-washing something. my next-door-neighbor passed away a few weeks ago, so willie and i spent some time working on the yard between us. fixing the fence, trimming rose bushes, etc. the man cusses with every other word, but in the sort of way where you can tell he has talked like that all his life and doesn't even hear it anymore. the way i see it, a person who is willing to till up flower beds for an almost-stranger can cuss all he wants.

and after three days in the yard, i know all sorts of things about all of my neighbors. and the neighbors before them. and their dogs. it is sort of like mayberry, but with more drama. and a three-legged dog.