Nosey neighbors....

See my Alameda real estate blog....The Second Story

Love your neighbors. Even if you don't like them, or care for them. That's what my Sunday School teachers told me.

Last of the roses, pruning them for the new blooms!

I was having a mani/pedi with my favorite nail artist yesterday. This is a treat that I give myself every three weeks. She's opened up her own shop...and it's truly lovely!

In the nothingness of my mind (so relaxed) she quietly asked me if the city would allow fireworks for the Chinese New Year?
h, yeah... no. There is a law in this town that prohibits shooting off fireworks...anywhere, and especially on the day of the birth of this nation. I think that it's there because there are so many old wood houses, so many ancient houses/properties, and so many buildings are so close together...it becomes a disaster in my head!

But something came to my mind...hey, I had a story about fireworks. This happened when we had one small child. We never had fireworks at or around the duplex. We would prefer to watch the pros do it, either by taking out a boat on San Francisco Bay, or finding a place that was officially controlled, like along the Berkeley shore. On those types of days/nights I prefer to stay home.

Many years ago, I remembered smelling occasional wafts of smoke around our house. This went on for 3 days! I couldn't find the source, but I kept smelling it. I think Carl was away racing some yacht either to Hawaii or to Mexico.

My neighbor across the street was always looking around, outside...and one morning when I was outside, she had her binoculars and she yelled out  "Srambled eggs again, I see!" What? I don't know how many times she had watched me...much less how she watched me, because my kitchen was not within her view!

She was doing her thing with the binoculars, and she saw smoke coming up from our roof! Or that's how it looked. She called the fire department (just a few blocks away). When they stopped their engine in front of our house, I was sure they were going to another place. By the time I got Sutter out of the house, the emergency was over. Only a little damage had been done.

Sure enough, some type of firework had landed in a wooden garden container with dead plants in it, in our other neighbor's yard, on the other side of the fence that separated us. That was the smoke I had been smelling! Those neighbors weren't home. But the fire was out. All was well.

So nosey neighbors have their place, whether we like them or not. But Florence became a hero in my eyes.

And while the neighbors are different, we are all looking out for each other.

Live richly, marilyn