My Neighborhood Noises

My Neighborhood Noises

Don’t you just love watching people!????  People often amaze me. I am amazed by their apparent abandon, when they think no one is watching. 

I live in a quiet neighborhood.  In quiet neighborhoods there is always someone watching…ok, so it’s usually me.  You know that crazy lady who lives on the corner.  For there is ALWAYS a crazy lady on the corner.  The one who knows everyone’s business, but not their names.  That sorta sums up my life…

I enjoy the chatter of the “dog people”.  The “dog” people are the folks in the neighborhood who, under the ruse of walking their dogs, stop and chit-chat with one another.  It appears to be more of an exercise in camaraderie rather than physical exercise for the dog.  Because we live on the corner, with plenty of trees and bushes, most dogs and their respective people make a pit stop out front.  With the windows and doors open, I hear all sorts of things.

I heard one neighbor, a parent, telling their child to quit picking their nose or they might pull their eyes out.  (I wanted to yell out that playing with their belly-button might make their arms and legs fall off too, but dolls don’t do that anymore…so they probably wouldn’t get that gag)

Another parent neighbor was overheard yelling, “No, No, don’t poop there!  I’ll have to pick it up.”  When I went to peek out the window, his 1 ½ year old son had dropped his drawers and was going to fertilize the decorative stones around a tree.  I’m not certain that Dad was all that concerned the kid was pooping outside…it seemed more detrimental that it was in the decorative stones!

Directly across the street, they have seven children under the age of ten.  Mom went back to work this summer. (can you blame her??)  Grandma came to their home to watch the kids.  Frazzled, I overheard her say, “I don’t care what you have for lunch as long as you eat outside, have cereal, have cookies, have candy, your parents get out of work in a few hours and I get to go HOME”.  I think she was a little overwhelmed.  I didn’t volunteer to help, but I did send my pity towards her.

I think my favorite noise from the neighbors would have to be the stoic, retired gentleman two houses down and across the street.  He seems to wear a long sleeved denim shirt, buttoned up to the last button whenever he is outside.  He likes to plug his i-tunes in and sing at the top of his lungs while mowing his yard.  Cracks me up!!  He couldn’t carry a tune if it were buttoned in his shirt pocket.  He likes the Rolling Stones….”Hey Hey You You Get Offa My Cloud”…( funny, my favorite song right now is Move Like Jagger  hope I don’t have to hear him butcher that one too!)