Won't you be my neighbor?

Tonight, as I was trying to clean up dinner, the door bell rang. We've lived in California for almost two years now, and the only time our door bell has ever rung is when the UPS man is making a delivery. The few friends we've made here usually call before they come and we weren't expecting any packages...so the ringing door bell came a quite a surprise.

I let the Golfer answer, just to be on the safe side. The boys took off after him, the Monkey with only a T-shirt and big boys pants on. It was about the time that I turned off the water that I heard the Golfer say, "That's so nice of you."

Well, I then of course had to see who it was that he was talking to. Turns out, it was one of our new neighbors down the street. They had brought us a beautiful pot of tulips as a "Welcome to the neighborhood" gift. I was pleasantly surprised. In all of my ten years of home owning, I have never had someone welcome me/us so warmly before.

The husband and wife explained that they had just moved into the neighborhood themselves about seven months ago. Recently married, they had seen us move in and just wanted to "come and introduce themselves." We chatted for a brief moment, all saying that we hoped to see each other around the neighborhood soon, and they left.

"Now that was nice," the Golfer said as we shut the door. And I totally agree. They walked all the way down the street, a street that is fairly new to them, just to offer a warm greeting. For me, it just confirmed that we bought the right house.

Our immediate next door neighbors have been just as nice. We chatted over the iron fence last week and they happily gave us some home owner's association info that we were still needing. The wife even came by last night to give us an old association newsletter, just so we could see what it was like.

Thoughtfulness. I thought it was dead. But apparently, it is alive and well here in Southern California. Who knew!?!

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