Welcome Wagon

A nice warm welcome to Irene, our newest neighbor and fellow sucker for run-down houses. If you're mainly here for the soap-opera aspects of our house work, you'll be pleased to note that she also has some nice interpersonal drama going on with her house, with police and everything. Irene is just a few blocks away from us and has a much bigger job on her hands than we do, but one of the most exciting things about the internet is that we get to know her a lot sooner than we otherwise would have, and we can get in on the story from the beginning.

One thing we don't write about here is how much people in this neighborhood help each other out. There are lots of technically skilled people living here, and we do things like lend each other tools, rent equipment together, help with design, commiserate about contractors, plot neighborhood improvements, and help with digging or hauling. We pass our doggies around for playtime, watch children for each other, give each other plant cuttings, and have each other over for dinner. Heck, we even share a ladder with our neighbor across the street, because there's just no reason for two houses on a block to each have their own 35' ladder. We are a real community, more so than in any other neighborhood I've lived in except the one where I grew up.

Alameda is a nice little town, but the very best thing about it is the people. Even when there are tiffs between neighbors, or when I find crack vials in the rose bed, the neighbors are one of the things that I love the most about living here.

So everybody go say "hi" to Irene, who is probably as sanguine about her house as she'll be for years. Maybe I can leave one of those touch-up cans of "Sassy Pink" on the porch for her.

Technorati Tags: alameda, neighbors

posted by ayse on 03/14/07