Neighbors

A Monarch Butterfly in all it's beauty ------------An Albino Peacock, the likes I have never seen before. Neighbors in a world of beauty along with the spiders who spin such beautiful and awesome webs, and creepy crawlers who do their living in the ground and in the leaves of the trees. Each has its place in our world, just like our people neighbors, and we all have those. We could probably equate some of them with the creatures of our world, some beautiful, some ugly, some loving and some just plain wonderful.

Some of my neighbors became extended family over the years and I wouldn't trade them for all of the tea in China. Some came in and out of my life and left without another word as they got on with their lives and made new neighbors.

Over the years I found with each move, cultivating neighbors was an art. You had to accept them 'as is' until they got to know you and then if the 'mix' was right, life took on a new and special meaning as you became part of your community and the exchange of cultures added so much more to our lives. There were always a few folks with preconceived ideas of what a neighbor should be like, and nothing you could do to change their attitudes. I am reminded of a time my husband and I moved into a lovely neighborhood with our five children and our neighbor to the south of us was in pure panic wondering what damage all of these children would do to their property. Icy cold, no exchange or greeting until after several months I answered a knock on the door and my neighbors stood there with a welcoming gift apologizing for the delay in welcoming us to the neighborhood. Their words remained for a long time as they agreed that we had well behaved children who were a pleasure to have as neighbors. You can bet my cap tilted a little that day.

I find our world has changed so much over the years. Life has become much more fast paced and time spins like a new top. People are friendly but protect their privacy. I treasure the friends I have made in my travels and miss the ones that have become 'stars' and wink at me from the heavens.

Make today a good one, invite your neighbor in for a cup of tea or coffee and share some of those cookies in the Cookie jar. Let them know you appreciate them just because you are neighbors.