Neighborly

After three moves within the town of Chapel Hill, we've finally found ourselves in a neighborly neighborhood and it is so grand to live in a settled place, where most people own their homes (not us!) and spend time and effort to care for their property and build friendships with their neighbors. It just makes so much of a difference...


Today I heard an awful lot of honking, and ran outside to see newly migrated geese landing on the lake behind our little neighborhood. Because Gigi is obsessed with water and is a bit of a clumse I generally don't spend much time near the lake, so I hadn't realized how beautiful it has become with the changing of the leaves.


Last week when I came home from work, we had one of those moments when you feel really full of peace and want to freeze the moment forever: we went outside in a perfect November afternoon, and Gigi and I collected acorn caps while Marcos swept the sidewalk of acorns for the lady next door. Her name is Libby, and she brought us over a jar of local honey on the same day that our neighbors on the other side brought over a plate of treats. They are from Baghdad, and we now get to celebrate all Islamic holidays over their plate of baklava and other baked goods. Our other neighbor Ali is my friend from church, and she also has one little guy named Boston, who is Gigi's buddy and is only one day younger than her. And then there's Thea, the new friend who lives across the lake but who brings her 20-month old Edon to our park to play, and who may be a potential soulmate-type of friend: granola, health-nut, who works at the Emerson Waldorf Preschool. And so on, and so forth with so many other lovely people.


Being "at home" in North Carolina has just never been quite as perfect as it is now.