It's a Wonderful Day in the Neighbourhood

It's a wonderful day for a neighbour! I've got some great neighbours and I'd like to talk about them briefly.

Directly to the south of us, there's a Mabel, who is 94 and lives alone. She's very active, has lots of guests, enjoys gardening, and is just generally very nice. She's delightful to talk to and is just generally impressive. I hope I'm half so active when I make it to her age. Come to that, I hope I make it to her age.

To our north, we have Basil and Evelyn, our younger neighbours. They're both mid-80s, with 21 grandchildren. Bas and Ev were the first people on the street that I met, and we're already quite close. They're just such good people - Bas is one of those guys who can and will talk about anything for hours, and I've wiled away many the warmer evening sitting on their porch drinking beers with them. They're also very active - Bas does more yardwork than most people half or even a quarter of his age. Again, delightful people that I think are amazing.

The last neighbour I'd like to talk to is one directly across the street from us, Earl. The most notable thing about Earl, other than his sense of humour (he told me that he married his wife 57 years ago because her dad owned a golf course and a buick, and how could he do better than that? She laughed and batted him on the arm), is the fact that today, after 6 inches of snow, he came over and used his snow blower on my driveway. I feel kind of guilty that an 85 year old man came over and cleaned my driveway - isn't that something I'm supposed to do for other people - but it is most definitely appreciated. We're planning on making them some cookies and taking them over there later.

What a great neighbourhood!