[... remember ... no ranting on Saturdays for me during Lent ... although any other day is fair game, because Jesus would want it that way ...]
... hip hip hooray for neighbors.
A conscious effort is being made to know more about my neighbors than the names of their pets (which was the case in Chicago, where I would often find myself passing them by and only saying a hello of sorts to the dog ... [of course you had to know that some of my moments are my kind of rain man moments]).
So I now know Matt and Matthew, on opposite sides of the property (and opposite sides of the Kinsey scale, if you know what I mean). Matt, classified as an ex-Marine by the landlady's momma at the time of the lease signing, is actually someone who didn't serve and who works at the local marina (hey, she's authentically German, so something probably got lost in the translation) and Matthew takes care of the vacant lot next door, performing general upkeep and planting flowers and the like.
Matt was gruff and a man of few words when we first met him ... but he melted when he saw the puppy Casanova and talked about what a"cutie pie" he was. He then went on to spill the beans about everything in the 'hood, including stories about the Spuds McKenzie looking dog he had before he got married and had children and how he used to scare the neighborhood kids (the dog did the scaring ... not the neighbor) and tales of how this place was once temporary housing for actors in the adult entertainment shoots they did at another house on the block. Oh ... and he introduced his current dog Lola.
Matthew spoke highly of how "cute" the house was but bemoaned the decision made sometime in the past to spray paint the fence and gate white, as he thinks it makes it look like a prison. Since he's in charge of the empty lot next door (owned by three people as an investment who are apparently waiting out the economy), he just finished planting things that will hopefully cover up the eyesight on one side ... and asked us to consider petitioning the landlady to do the same.
We're all not invited to Matt's card party just yet (said he, "it might get loud, but unless you hear gunshots ... we're just havin' fun") ... but we're on our way.
OOOO ... STEP BY STEP WITH PICTURES:
http://www.wikihow.com/Welcome-New-Neighbors
SPUDS MACKENZIE: THE TRUE HOLLYWOOD STORY VERSION:
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-10-11/features/1993284140_1_spuds-joey-buttafuoco-woof
IN CASE YOU DIDN'T KNOW OF THE SCALE:
http://www.kinseyinstitute.org/research/ak-hhscale.html
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