suburban diary

my suburban diary: can i borrow your…

kdavis Leave a comment

phillip, grace, and i moved to our home at the end of 2019. it was a strange time because although we were familiar with the part of town, we didn’t know hardly anyone super close by and were challenged by limitations enforced by the pandemic. we ended up bonding with dave, jenn, and gwen down the street for marvel nights, and slowly but surely, we have gotten to know our other neighbors. it’s quite remarkable who you can meet while you’re out walking the dog. multiple times a day. nearly regardless of the weather. 🙂

we have some empty nesters, young parents, singles, couples. folks of all different sorts surround us, and i love this little community we have created. and i know we have really “made it” when the neighbors are comfortable enough to ask to borrow something. i’m not sure i can think of anything more quintessential suburbia than lending your neighbor your time or resources. but i also hope this happens in more urban settings, too!

over the years, we have lent a variety of items and abilities to our neighbors, including but not limited to…

    • two eggs so that a mom can make her daughter’s birthday cake
    • a quick stop on our daily walk to repair a mailbox
    • the mower so that the lady next door does not have to pay a service to do it
    • a few visits a day to check on the neighbor’s cats (one of them is named mr. t, lol)
    • some elbow grease to help put together some backyard furniture
    • juiceboxes so that an ill child can get some fluids in her
    • a few nights’ sleepover while a gas leak gets repaired

    i do not think i can stress enough how important i think it is to know the folks who live by you. sure, it’s nice to have someone know you in general, but it’s also critical in case there is a real emergency and you need a friendly face and some reassurance. now, go out and build those bonds!

    my suburban diary: lookin’ my best

    kdavis Leave a comment

    if you know me at all, you know i don’t sit still for long, even on the weekends when that is exactly part of what one should do. i’m usually out and about running errands or doing chores around the house, gettin’ to all that stuff i neglected during the week. included in that list is almost always at least one workout to keep myself in check.

    well, several months back i had popped on over to orangetheory for an early morning class one saturday. in typical fashion, afterwards i also took grace on a nice stroll through the neighborhood and then showered off for the rest of the day. however, that particular saturday had “the rest of the day” start with a nap. i am usually not a weekend napper, but clearly my body was telling me i was due for some much needed rest, so i threw on my long, fuzzy, pink robe and curled up for a snooze.

    hours later (who knows exactly how many) i was jolted awake by grace’s barks. someone had rung the bell, and since phillip was out doing his own thing, i raced down the stairs, big hair flying everywhere (and i mean EVERYWHERE). i can only imagine how i looked to my neighbor when i flung the door open! she, too, was slightly taken aback since it was the middle of the day and had certainly never seen me in this state. i can only hope there weren’t drool trails down the sides of my face!

    i eventually got my bearings, engaged in a brief conversation that was more than socially acceptable in length, and promptly went back upstairs to finish my nap. so, if answering the front door in my robe was on my bucket list, i guess i can mark it off now!