Good Neighbors

Today we went to have lunch at Pizza Hut. About the time that our meal came there was an older gentleman finishing his meal. By the time we had the first bite in our mouths he walked by the table and started a conversation. He was interesting to talk to and the subject was nothing of note. I would have thought nothing of it except for his comment as he left. He says, "I did not mean to interrupt your meal." To be sure what he really meant was that he would not interrupt us any more and he was trying to say it in a polite manner. I would say that he was successful. He would be welcome to stop and talk for a bit at any time. But his comment was not true at all in the fact that he fully intended to interrupt us from what we were doing so that he could talk for a few moments.

In our daily living we do that sort of thing a lot of times. Some days we must do it frequently. Whether to call them lies or something else I am unsure. This is one of those gray areas that we live with all the time. How often have we asked, "How are you?", when we really don't care to know unless the answer is, "I'm doing well." Or perhaps we say, "It's been good to see you, keep in touch." And really mean, "Now i can get back to doing what I really want to do, and I won't think of you again for a long time." To be sure if we said what we really felt it could be hurtful and we do not want to hurt. I have thought about such things the first time many years ago and I decided that the proper thing for me to do is to try to modify the things I say so that they are noncommittal or to actually be willing to mean that which I say. Perhaps what I would have said instead could be something like, "I will not interrupt your meal any more. Have a good day." Both statements would be true.

Over a month ago when a neighbor across the street left he was going to throw away two tomato plants that he had grown. He had been giving me a homegrown tomato every couple days and I was enjoying them. I asked him to leave the plants so that I could continue to enjoy them as long as we were here in the grove. Of course he said sure and asked me to throw away the plants when I left. I have watered them a couple times a week and picked the tomatoes fairly regularly. The birds are just about as fast to pick (peck) the tomatoes as I am. They definitely gotten their fair share of the fruit. I was thinking that it would be nice to have a net to drape over the plants to keep the birds away but that is something I might have had when I owned a house and had a garage. I sure don't have such things in the motor home. A couple mornings ago I went over to check if there were ripe tomatoes and discovered that there really is a tooth fairy, or a net fairy. Someone had taken two small pieces of netting and placed around the plants and they are now well protected. I have no idea who did it. There are so few people around anymore and none close to the plants at all. I guess that when I leave i will just roll up the net and place it where it can be seen and let them pick it up later. Somewhere around here is an unknown good neighbor. Hope I find out who it is.

When we bought this Vectra motorhome there was a piece of carpet that was put in the front under the drivers seat and over the area next to it. Also there was a carpet scrap laid on each of the three steps coming in. The idea of course was to protect those two areas from the driver and/or shoppers until the new owner took possession and then they would discard them. Being the new owners we had other ideas. Those pieces of carpet cover the area of highest and dirtiest traffic in the whole motorhome. Anytime we come into the house any dirt on our shoes gets deposited there. Vacuuming or shaking them helped a lot but it finally got to the point that we decided to take them out and was them with a hose and soap. If they took the cleaning, fine, if not, fine. I am out on the concrete "patio" with a hose, a can of carpet cleaner, and a smallish brush. The neighbor behind me came out and said he had the perfect stuff to clean the carpet. He got some of it and make me a bucket of soapy water and brought out a long handled floor scrub brush. What a difference that made. Instead of killing myself crawling on my knees with a small brush I had a tool to do the job properly. Then when I was done scrubbing he came out and offered the use of a drying rack that he has. I was going to let the carpet dry on the concrete, but I knew it would dry better hanging in the air. Even then I figured it would take as much as three days to dry. When I had washed the small pieces it had taken two full day to dry on a picnic table. When I got the carpet hung up it was late afternoon. The next morning when I went out to check of it the small pieces were fastened up with clothes pins and the larger piece had a couple clothes pins on it too. And the most amazing thing was that it was dry. It was cleaner than I though it would ever come too. So once again a neighbor came to assist me without being asked. I don't think that people here are much different than they are anywhere else. I do believe that there are less barriers between neighbors in the camping world so it is easier and more common for people to get close to the neighbors.

This is a great lifestyle.

Till Later This is Uncle Duck