Love your Neighbors?

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We don't really have a neighbor here, and I can't say that I miss not having one either. Aside from the sound of occasional chainsaw or a passing kayak on the Lake, it is really quite quiet and peaceful. And, I like it like that!

In Those Days, we usually lived in a neighborhood with neighbors. But, had it not been forced by my children playing with their children, I likely would have had little to do with any of them. There were, of course, a few exceptions and some day I'll write about them. But not today!

One Sunday morning (circa 1980) I was lying on the couch trying to watch a football game while the rest of my family went to church (that's the way it was....then). Well anyway, it was not long before I heard a lawnmower start. Nothing unusual during winter in SoCal. But what was odd, was that my neighbor had never moved his grass himself ever before, because this guy was just plain geeky.

It wasn't long before I heard the "sound." A sound I knew because I had even caused that very same sound a time or two myself. It was the sound of a mower blade chewing up a sprinkler head so hard that it kills the motor. And since the neighbor did not have any sprinkler heads of his own, I knew it was mine.

Not wanting to deal with the issue at hand, I just laid there covering my forehead and listening to the game. I could visualize what he was doing. You know, turning the mower on it's side and looking under to see just what happened. And, I really though he was trying to raise the blade height. Wrong.

I guess about 15 minutes passed before I heard that mower restart. I was really surprised at that. But within seconds this time, I heard the exact same noise again. Holy crap! Was this guy going to destroy every one of the sprinklers that I just installed a few weeks before? I couldn't let the idiot do that, so I jumped from the couch and ran outside.

There he was. Proud as heck of his brand new lawnmower. So he says, "I'm sorry, but I think I just hit a couple of your sprinklers." Now, how did he figure that out?

First I asked why he was mowing my lawn (the part between his property and my driveway), and he said he just thought that was the neighborly thing to do. I told him that I could understand hitting the first one, but asked why did he continue along the same path to hit the very next one. He said that he thought if he pushed the machine faster he could pass over it before the blade could catch the sprinkler.

I just went back inside without saying a word and returned to the game. I guess I should have gone to church like I was supposed to do.

You know, I never saw him mow his lawn again!
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