rachel’s blog

I have been known to occasionally make snarky comments about the appearance of my neighbors’ houses. Well, not the houses per se, but the porches and front yards… if you can call them yards. Unlike my neighbors to the right and left, I actually have grass in the front yard. And I don’t use my porch for storage.

One Saturday morning when I was outside working, a middle-aged woman walked by on the sidewalk, carrying a bag. She said hello, and then she stopped… and proceeded to initiate a conversation. I had never seen her before in my life, so I started to become slightly suspicious of this random stranger who suddenly wanted to engage in a longer-than-comfortable conversation about nothing in particular.

Just when things were starting to get really awkward, she motioned to the one neighbor’s house and asked, “So are they having a yard sale?” Ohhhh. No, they weren’t having a yard sale. That’s what the porch ALWAYS looks like…

I live on a narrow, crowded street just a few blocks from the downtown area. Fortunately, most of the houses on the street are pretty well cared for… except for the ones next to mine. A number of my friends have asked whether anyone lives in the house next to mine (not the yard sale-ish house). Yes, in fact, it is occupied by the owners’ young daughter and her boyfriend, but I could see how the out-of-control plants and cluttered front porch could lead you to believe that it has been abandoned.

Last weekend my parents and I went out for Sunday lunch when they passed through town on their way home from North Carolina. Dad asked what the tall stalk-like plants were between the neighbors’ sidewalk and my yard. He liked them. I told him I didn’t know what they were, but that they were leaning so far into my yard that it made it hard to mow the grass beside the raised bed. I can’t exactly remember where we had this conversation (weren’t we in the car already, Dad?), but when I got home from work this evening, I was utterly surprised to see that ALL of those lovely stalk-like plants had been chopped down.

This, of course, makes me slightly paranoid that I somehow made that comment within my neighbors’ earshot. Maybe I should stop saying things I don’t want them to hear. I mean, if they clear out the abundant vegetation in the backyard too, I’ll have to quit my side job as a jungle safari guide…