Knowing your neighbours

[GLC1968]

Yes, we do. Pretty well, in fact. But, we live in the country where knowing your neighbors is more a part of life than it is in more urban surroundings.

We have a couple that lives next door that are probably 10 years older than us. We are quite friendly with them and often exchange produce and favors.

The guy who owns the land surround us and our neighbors is really nice. We've met him twice - he operates a bison ranch and lives up the road a ways.

The couple who own the berry farm across the street are probably about our age and we've only exchanged pleasantries with them occasionally. We don't even know their names. They have 4 young boys and since we don't have kids, there isn't a lot of opportunities for socializing.

When we lived in NC we lived in a suburban neighborhood and we barely knew two sets of neighbors even though we were surround by TONS of them.

Same thing when we lived in suburban Florida.

[redrhodie]

In my last apartment, one of my neighbors decided we were best friends, would show up at all hours uninvited. I really couldn't stand her, and the efforts dbf and I made at avoiding her were comical (like slipping out the back door while she was knocking on the front). This probably sounds mean, but she was always drunk, and I didn't want her constant melodrama in my life. She was a factor in my decision to move. I've been leery of getting too close to any neighbor since her.

[Norse]

Although we don't really socialize with our neighbors we do know them, say "hello" when we see them and do sometimes chat with the neighbors on either side of us. It probably helps that there are no fences in our hood. The couple we have known the longest - we let each other know when the other household is going to be gone and who to expect will be over watching the place/pets, when we'll back... and we each other's phone nos. It makes us feel much more secure knowing that even if we're gone, there is a nosy set of eyes looking at our place.