April 2014

Last spring, we cut down several overgrown shrubs in front of our house.  We hauled them off to the side of the yard forming a massive pile and vowed to deal with them soon.  Our next door neighbor offered to burn them; he even went out of his way to get a burn permit and dropped it off to us.  We never got around to doing anything and ended up adding our Christmas tree to the pile months later.  I wouldn’t describe the pile as an eyesore, but it definitely became one more nagging reminder of an unfinished project.

A few days ago, I drove in the driveway to find the pile had disappeared.  A few leaves strewn across the pavement were all that was left.  Knowing that another burn season was coming to an end, my neighbor had come by and dragged the entire pile to his yard and burned it.  This same neighbor has helped clear the snow from our driveway in winter and leaves from it in the fall.  On other occasions, I have spotted my neighbor across the street watering the flowers by my mailbox because he knows I don’t have a hose long enough to reach or a green thumb to give them a fighting chance.

There is a common misconception about living in the country.  I have worked with house hunters who resist searching for a home in a more rural setting out of fears of isolation or the absence of a neighborhood. While it is true that my neighbors are no longer within arms reach, their capacity for kindness and desire to lend a helping hand is not diminished simply because our yards are separated by trees.  I have been the recipient of just as many random acts of kindness by neighbors in this setting as I was in a “close knit neighborhood”.   To me this is the embodiment of community and it affirms my belief that good neighbors can be found anywhere from a busy street to a quiet cul-de- sac and even in locations where the trees outnumber the houses.

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