My mom is at it again, silently feuding with her helpful neighbor. Maybe silently fuming would be a better description.
"I went out to sit on the porch last night, just before it got dark. I sit behind that tree with the flowers on it so that new neighbor can't see me. But here he came! He was just here yesterday with my mail that got left in his box."
"That's kind of odd. Your mailwoman knows you. She wouldn't put you mail in another box. Even though she took that thank-you card you put in there for your friend."
"I know. I wonder if we have a substitute carrier this week."
I didn't want to ask if she thought the neighbor might have taken the mail out of her box, and just SAID it was put in his. This is the guy who had the tree fall across his driveway, and Mom said she would not help him or give him food if he couldn't get out, because he has a wife.
"So, he came over and said that he's having a family get-together this weekend, and he wondered if he and his wife could park their cars on my side of the road, along my property. I told him, 'You can pull both of your cars down my driveway and park them on that concrete slab, but make sure you leave my driveway clear so I can get out.' He said he might have about 25 cars there."
"Didn't they do this last year? And they were parked all along the road?"
"Yes, but he asked. And I think he has room on his land to park 25 cars. I really hope they don't shoot off fireworks. That was terrible on the Fourth of July. I was afraid they might land one on my roof. And it was SO LOUD! He came over and apologized the next day. And do you know what I told him? I said, 'Well, I would think you were smart enough not to aim any at my house.' Then I felt like I probably shouldn't have said that. But it made me mad that they shot so many fireworks."
"I hope his people can get around that part of the tree trunk that's still there."
"I think they can."
My mom also has a passing relationship with an old man that lives down at the bottom of her hill. Passing relationship, as in, she waves at him every time she passes. "He's always out there, and he just WAVES, so I wave back. I don't even know his name."
"Maybe he'll bring you a couple bags of hedgeapples in about 11 years, since that other guy moved to Branson."
"Maybe."
You'd think Mom would be more receptive to that new neighbor. All he's ever done is try to help her during the snow. What's a few fireworks between neighbors?
I always worry a bit about fireworks, but at least he asks and warns her. I think maybe she just enjoys being able to complain from time to time. I know I do.
ReplyDeleteMaybe he's looked at your mother one too many times in a leering way, and she's fed up...
ReplyDeleteI can handle a few fireworks, provided they don't burn down your house.
ReplyDeleteYour mother may engage in smack down. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. Maybe you should fire back your own fireworks.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Maybe a good fence is the solution. It worked for Robert Frost.
ReplyDeletejoeh,
ReplyDeleteMom has an issue with those neighbors. She really liked the last ones who lived in that house, and then it sat empty, and she has not yet warmed up to these new people. They have bent over backwards to befriend her. She's kind of set in her ways.
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Sioux,
No. She's not like that friend of hers who, every time the old ladies met at Hardees for breakfast, said, "I don't like the looks of that man over there. He's undressing me with his eyes."
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Stephen,
That's her fear. Those fireworks can only land on her roof, in her precious driveway, or in the tinder-dry woods.
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Linda,
Don't give her any ideas.
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Leenie,
Well done, ma'am. I was hoping somebody would get that reference.