They say fences make good neighbors...

When you move into a new neighborhood one of the first things you wonder is whether your neighbors will be nice. Are they easy going? Are they loud? Do they take care of their lawn? Ultimately, will we love them or loathe them? Moving into the corner lot of Coolidge Street 11 years ago we wondered those very things and being new to the neighborhood those same questions were being pondered about us. It didn't take long for curious neighbors to come greet the newbies and assess the young family joining their neighborhood ranks. 

To the back, we learned that the mature couple was meticulous about thier lawn grooming and didn't care for our lack of a green thumb and mediocre lawn maintenance. They planted fast growing trees to finish off the already partial blockade of pine trees clearly defining where our (often brown) lawn ended and their golf-green lawn began. 

To the side we discovered a very different type of neighbor. They were kind, friendly, always outside working on a project or garden and became our sole resource for borrowing tools. These neighbors kept an extra eye on anything out of the ordinary, helped snowblow, brought flowers from their garden (I think Lisa knew I'd never be growing my own), and were simply there with a smile a and a wave as we went about our respective daily lives. 

When one of their many projects included building a fence seperating our property lines I felt a pang of disappointment assuming they had grown weary of our consistent flow of social activities and that perhaps we were not the neighbors they had hoped for. As the fence went up I watched as Mark situated each wood slat next to the one before so tight that even air would find it difficult to pass - surely they wanted complete separation. As the weeks passed and the fence went up I had resigned myself to the fact that we had somehow failed them as neighbors. 

What I hadn't considered was an opening in that fence; one with an ornate walk through and long lattice trellis that was designed to allowed easy access from our back yard to theirs. It was never discussed, it just was what it was - an open invitation for a neighborly visit. 

Years have passed since then and we still adore our amazing neighbors so it was with sad hearts that we walked through our walkway last month to share the news of our moving away. Before long we found Mark attaching hinges to the walkway opening and crafting a seamless door so that when shut, the new neighbors would be none the wiser that there was ever a passageway connecting our families. The door is complete but they have yet to seal it shut while we are still here. As I sit today and look at that open door knowing the new owners will only see fence, I am reminded of the old saying that fences make good neighbors

but in my experience a fence with a walk through makes good friends.