Ninety years ago from her farmhouse window she would see the loads of gravel being sold from my grandpa’s gravel pit. Every load moved by horse and cart was marked down on a tally on a calendar beside her party line telephone. With all the typical work to do in her house and around the farm she had time to do this. This neighbour had a husband but no children. She was a topnotch housekeeper, cook , quilter and kind soul.
When you went to visit her, even in her later years, she could put together a great homemade meal in no time flat. Bam! She was amazing. The visit would last well into the night because there was a lot of ground to cover with respect to catching up on all the news of the neighbourhood and adventures of those farther afield.
My neighbours are close at hand.
An older couple has moved into a seniors apartment but they are still involved in the local activities at the church and coffee shop. A new person has taken over their place and has a very old dog and a very young dog as well as some horses boarded somewhere which are part of a business venture she manages.
Another neighbour is constantly on the go with his trucking business and his wife is a devoted daughter, caring for her parents.
The folks beside me are busy night and day caring for children and others, often in emergency situations. Quite possibly, these people are angels.
Across the street are lovely folk involved in teaching,books, music, art, food and cats. They are either on their porch with herbal tea or off to watch the swans. Music from the sixties floats through the air, sometimes.
Directly across,a relative resides. Family sports events, community and social activities, planning such events for her wide range of friends and recently some kitchen renovations occupy her time. She seems to keep tabs on me as well.
Further along, another relative lives a bachelor life of hobbies, friends and travel. He is also very fond of his amazing ginger coloured cat. He sends me emails about his cat, often.
Across the street is a young family with several children that liven up the neighbourhood, attracting the other kids down the street and they all get together as “The Chicken House Gang” and happily go off to the local park to play. All of them are sweet and polite. I should know because I see them go by back and forth a couple of times a day and they wave or say hi. Quite possibly, these kids are angels too.
Around the corner is a gentle and dignified grandma that rides her bike or goes on walks with her grandchildren.
At the end of the street, another couple, distantly related, reserved and respected.
On the corner, in a huge restored old house a busy family, a tiny dog, teenagers in the house.
More neighbours, further along, as the streets and lanes wind in and out. New grandchildren are the news of these folks, or so I hear. They have been away to visit this new baby but are home again as I’ve been told as we gathered on the porch.
A toad is happy to be in my garden and follows my footsteps as I water the plants. The big tree across the street has a racoon carefully moving along the bigger branches.
At night, when I can’t sleep I think of things like the neighbour of my grandpa’s watching and tallying his gravel business and then I blog a bit to boost my stats. I’ll count them in the morning.
An Embarrassment of Freedom 
I remember when neighbors fed each other and party line telephones. Things moved much slower then.
My neighbours and I do go back and forth with meals usually during a stressful or busy time just to help each other. I remember the party line too! My mom would say “using! using! if she thought someone was listening in…)
I loved this piece Liz, because some of the anonymous folks described so well in your succint descriptions of them are not so anonymous to me. Great writing about the nature of a wonderful neighbourhood!