neighbors

There is nothing like meeting a goal while enjoying it to bring a sense of delight as well as accomplishment. I walk daily–today I arrived at day 707 without ever missing a day–looking at the flowers, visiting with all the other walkers. I live in a walking neighborhood with friendly walkers who at a minimum wave. Some stop to chat and some check on me if they have not seen me out walking in a while because of the different routes we take or different times we walk. One particular person who checks on me taught me how to make some of her native food–India. Another lady several blocks away prefers to walk with others, not alone, so if she sees me out, we join together in the company of her little dog, June, whom I have never seen actually walking. June rides in a baby carriage.

Now, as I write this, I’m enjoying another late afternoon of delight in my backyard. The hibiscus is full of ruby flowers. Freeway daisies, bright white and purple, pop up everywhere. Four different colors of bougainvillea sport their joy. One nasturtium–they are popping in places I never even planted–is sporting the same color of ruby as the hibiscus. The lemon tree is full of almost ripe lemons some of which I have promised to friends and neighbors. One woman cannot eat all these lemons. Meanwhile, I listen to different birds singing their varied songs and to the gurgle of the water fountain by the Nile Blue French doors and watch the hummingbird who is watching me.

I feel grateful to be surrounded in beauty and quiet joy.

Because I teach high school, I am accustomed to teenagers, their loudness and capacity for rude behavior. Nevertheless, because I live in ranching country with fences and gates, most know you do not go through another person’s fence or leave gates open. The former is called trespassing. The latter can thoughtlessly let out livestock and maybe get them killed. If your neighbor’s dog keeps coming to your property and you call the sheriff’s office, they will simply tell you to shoot it.

Respect applies. If you do not want people running over your property, obviously do not trespass on another’s. Have respect for others as you would want them to respect you.

A big party full of teens started at my neighbor’s about five hours ago. I watched them throwing rocks, running hither and yon, like caged animals on the loose. A fence exists between my property and hers, a very obvious, country style fence with cedar and T-posts and five strands of wire. It is not invisible. I never installed no trespassing signs because they would face her property and in some places exist at the edge of her back yard. I would not be able to see them from my house or barn. After this evening, I will reconsider.

Luckily, I was out feeding horses, doing chores, when several of the teens apparently decided to crawl through the fence and walk toward my house. Because I was outside, I saw them and was able to tell them to get back across the fence. If I had not been home, would they have kept walking, what might they have done? Nothing, hopefully, but with 25 or perhaps more running around, who knows. I kept thinking surely these young people know better. Have they not been taught to respect others? Where were the adults? Did they even care?

This week I will go buy several no trespassing signs and install them at various places along the fence. I feel sad to think I find this necessary.