trystinn | Neighbor Musings

Those on my Flist know how fond I am of our elderly neighbor to the south, Loni. Her family owned a block of land that eventually became part of this community, then divided into lots among members. Our home was her sister Dorothy's, one she herself designed and lived in until her sister's diabetes became too serious and she moved next door to take care of her. We have always considered ourselves privileged to live among this wonderful family and have delighted in them. She has always been delightfully understanding of our dogs, and adoring of our rabbits.

Today I unexpectedly ended up with a day off because of store inventory, and so Deb and I spent much of the afternoon hanging out with Loni in her home and going over the building of our home. She had found original plans and several dozens of photos outlining every single step of the process. We sat in her empty living room as she told the stories of our home. How they almost built the house facing the wrong way. How the septic tank engineer almost screwed everything up by misunderstanding the property line division. The history of each tree - God how they've grown! And that fabulous boulder (it was original to the site and they built around it rather than move it) outside the kitchen window that Flash loves to stand on and howl.. The frustrations of assembling enough natural native rock to produce the low wall at the front of our property and along the side, still incomplete after all these years, halted due to a falling out between Dorothy and the two sisters next door.

The wall is barely a foot tall in some places; its certainly not intended to provide any privacy whatsoever. Just a decorative border, dragged into place and arranged with love by three laughing sisters. Now it only exists in clumps - 3 rocks here, 4 there, a lone rock in another spot. A testament to grudges and bad feelings, the loss of forgiving natures. I have long wanted to rip out the ugly tallow berry bushes and wild brambles to expose that darling little rock wall and I am now determined to do so this Spring and Summer. With help, maybe we can finish that little rock wall and mend the fences once and for all.