We may all have had one, at some point in our lives, you know, the old man or woman who lived a couple houses down the street. They were always out in the yard doing something and watching the neighborhood. They weren’t a part of any neighborhood watch but they did know something about anything that happened.
Yes they had lived in the same house for ever and they knew every vehicle that should be on the street and those cars that were not from the neighborhood.
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Before I get too deep into my story, I want to tell you of a recent adoption. It started last Thursday when the grand kids were playing in the back yard. This cat came out from under the shed to play with the kids.
It is white with Orange spots, very friendly and everyone thought it was a female. Being the kind people we are, we fed the cat. Turns out that the cat likes Thanksgiving turkey.
On Monday I took the cat to the vet hoping it had a chip, but no chip. They checked the cat over very close and the vet verified that it was indeed, a male and it had been fixed. The vet pronounced him as healthy after a couple hundred dollars of tests and shots. The cat has adopted us!
The problem now is, Molly don’t like him. We are hoping in time she will accept him.
This cat has spent more time on our laps in one day than Molly has in two years.
We are considering calling him Charlie (Sorry Charley).
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Back to my original thought, what was it?
Oh, I remember, the crazy neighbor that could live next door.
I was out in the yard working today, minding my own business. I had noticed my neighbor across the street was also doing some yard work and it was about then that I observed a police car drive slowly down the street.
You might think there is nothing unusual about a patrol car in the neighborhood but I am here to tell you, they seldom come down our street. Possibly once a month and that is when someone calls them.
Why was he here? Had someone called in about the crazy neighbor? The officer stopped at the end of the street and just sat there. Did he have his camera with a telephoto lens, and was he taking photos? What was he looking for?
Keeping one eye on the patrol car, I continued my work in the yard (no I am not cross eyed, although I can cross my eyes, but mom told me not to do that, they might get stuck that way).
After a couple minutes I noticed another neighbor standing in his yard staring in my direction. I looked around and there was nothing unusual behind me, I looked down and I had not forgot to put my pants on, this time (I don’t forget my pants too often). Why was he looking at me?
I decided to stopped my work and find out why he was watching me. As I crossed the street he was now smiling, almost laughing. What was so funny, had I done something to cause him to laugh in my face? Was he being cruel laughing at me, or was he indeed laughing with me? I am going to find out right now!
His laughter, must have had something to do with my yard work. I quickly devised a preemptive comment, to keep him from saying anything.
I started with, “I can explain. If you were to go to a barber and get your hair cut they would not leave the cut hair laying on your head, would they?” His answer was, “no they would not”. I explained, that is why I am grooming my yard the way I am. He said he understood, but he still had a big smile on his face.
In the photo below you will see me vacuuming the yard. Yes I have a coat on it was only 50 degrees at the time of this photo.
For those of you who are observant, you may have noticed you can only see one of the Christmas decorations that my present spouse has place in the yard. It is the angel leaning against the tree.
You may have also noticed that most of the leaves have been vacuumed from the yard. I used the lawn mower with the grass catcher to vacuum up the leaves. The partial bundle of straw is left over from the manger scene, my first wife did not put it away.
The neighbor (not in this photo) noted that the vacuum was doing a good job, and it seemed to be less work for me. I agreed saying I need a longer power cord.
Do you think the cop was called by a neighbor saying, there is a crazy old man vacuuming his yard?
Why was I vacuuming the yard? I was picking up acorns. I removed the filters from the vacuum and it does a real good job of picking them up. It is also much easier that using the pecan roller/picker upper.
I wasn’t the first person to try this, my other neighbor had his vacuum out picking up pecans before me, now who is crazy?
Maybe you should try to be, “the crazy neighbor”.
It can be fun.
Don Ford
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