The Neighbors

Since we've moved into this house, we've had a pretty nice neighbors.  We stay out of each other's business, but we look out for each other, and keep an eye on the house when no one is home.

Our left hand neighbor is a really nice guy.  He, like my husband, is the child of the original owners.  He's a single father of a daughter who is now grown and got married in the back yard last year.  I like him a lot, he's a character, and I love unusual characters.  He will sit in his boat in the back yard and drink beer while listening to his radio.  No, we're not on the water, he just likes to be on his boat.  I asked him why once, and he told me that he didn't want to drink and drive.  If he had a beer out on the water, he'd still have to drive the boat back to the shore, and then he'd have to drive it home.  It's the responsible choice he's making... but it does always make me smile on Saturday afternoons when I see him sitting in his boat, beer in hand, listening to an Orioles game.

Things changed and got a little odd over there this past year.

His parents, who have been divorced for 20 years moved back in together.  With HIM.  Yep, his little house is now home to his divorced parents. 

The house is literally not big enough for the both of them.  If one of them is inside, the other one is outside.  We came home a couple of weeks ago and saw the father outside, making up his bed for the night in the hammock, and heard him muttering under his breath while trying to tie up some mosquito netting over the hammock.

I've seen her outside in the early afternoons, listening to Sinatra and pulling weeds.  She usually has a big pitcher of Sun Tea brewing on the porch while she's working.  When she finishes pulling weeds, she sits outside watching birds and drinking iced tea.  If he comes outside for anything, she immediately stops what she's doing and heads back into the house.

We do hear the parents arguing about things.  We never hear what they're arguing about, but we can hear their voices coming from inside of the house, followed by the slam of a door.

Recently, I saw the son (who's a couple of years older than me) standing outside, under the trees next to our driveway.   He was drinking from a bottle.

"Is that only a beer?"  I asked him.

"Yep."  He looked at me oddly.  "What do you mean?"

"All I know, is that if my divorced parents had decided to move back in together with me, I'd need something stronger than a beer to see me through that event."

It was the first time I've seen him laugh in a couple of months.  He pointed to the treehouse in the back yard that he had built for his daughter.  "I've been thinking of moving out there for a while now".  He sighed.  "I still don't know how this happened.  We sent out the wedding invitations for my daughter, and the next thing I know, both of them have moved in with me.  My daughter says better me than her.  I've been thinking my only recourse might be to move in with her, and let Mom and Dad fight this battle out on their own."

He shook his head and walked back towards his house.

Last night, I noticed a light gleaming inside of the treehouse.  Not sure who took up residence, but it looks like they've moved in for a while.  I took a closer look this morning, and screens have been placed over the windows, and a screen door has been added.

This post originally appeared in my now defunct "Mom's View" blog.  I moved it to this blog at the request of my kids, who wanted to have all of the various posts that accompanied their high school years in one place.  I've matched the publication dates here to their original post date.  If you're reading these posts, I sincerely thank you for taking the time to go back through them all!