Saturday, June 20, 2009

Secret Gardens

Today we saw the neighbors' gardens, or yards as most Americans call them. Little did we know what wonders were hidden behind the non-descript homes on our street.

It turns out that this year's local garden tour featured homes exclusively on our street. Luckilly, we learned about this two-day fest from someone where I work. Our neighbor across the street (Rodeo) was not so lucky and was out in all his shirtless, drunken glory from 8AM until about 2PM providing the masses with some unexpected entertainment (ever watch a completely toasted man hack away at a small tree with an 6 foot electric trimmer from an 8 foot ladder? Well, lots of unsuspecting folks witnessed the spectacle today).

It was really eye-opening for us to see what secret worlds our neighbors were hiding beside and behind their homes.   There were colonies of hostas, trickling waterfalls and fountains,  fragrant gardens of basil and verbena, lush hydrangeas, benches nestled in shaded hillside nooks, large swaths of wooded areas providing privacy, built-in professional-grade out-door grills, and all sorts of gorgeous flowering beauties that I cannot name.  

One home was actually showing off its kitchen (we were a bit baffled until we went inside).  It turns out the owner is a builder and built the house and now has added a cabinet business.  We had complete and total home envy.  The home was like a luxury lodge inside, with refined yet hearty woods (the hardwood floors were the most gorgeous I have ever seen), stucco walls, a pretty amazing kitchen, and all sorts of built-in wooden cabinets.   We had no idea walking by that house on our evening walks.....It was pretty amazing.

So, we walked home to our "power sub-station"-looking house slightly dejected.  :-)  We look forward to the day when we have some at least semi-permanent, a place that we feel like investing in.  Somewhere I can plant herbs and flowers and we can build our own private paradise.  

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Dear Neighbor

I need a Zen moment like this chipmunk.  Why? Because our neighbors are driving us crazy.... 

Dear Neighbor (aka Rodeo),

I know that life is tough when you have Adult ADHD and other assorted conditions that cause you to use your leafblower approximately 18 hours a day for no purpose whatsoever than to blow non-existent dust off your driveway and into your yard, at which point you crank up your lawn vacuum (a new and very exciting toy for Rodeo) and suck up all the dirt and leaves in your yard.  And I know that you really LOVE hacking your trees and bushes apart with your various electric cutters, so that you can then repeat the leaf blower+lawn vacuum process.  And yes, I am sure there are many pieces of wood that then really must be sawed apart in your garage at 10PM.  

But, for the love of every human being within earshort (roughly 5 miles) of your machines and toys, can you just.....stuff it!!!!  

Dear Neighbor #2 (aka Crazy Guy)

Listen, I know some people are really dedicated to their Lawn Boy mowers.  It's a bit like a cult, I believe.  But when the day comes that you have to run the mower over each patch of grass roughly 15 times, I think the mower needs to be laid to rest.  When it takes you one hour and approximately 10 gallons of sweat to mow a patch of grass the size of my dining room table, I think that's a problem.

Dear Neighbor #3 (aka Guy We Like) 

Although it was slightly irritating for about a week when you had heavy equipment moving between a two-story-tall cement pile on the street  and your back yard multiple times a day, we now praise you for your very considerate gesture of paving over your entire backyard and creating some sort of entertainment masterpiece of tiered patios and assorted amenities such as a hot tub.  Pure genius!!