Our Neighborhood

We've lived in our neighborhood for ten years now.

About five or six years ago, our cul de sac became our own little tight knit community. We had block parties, we sat outside in the evenings and chatted, while the kids all played together. There were at least fifteen kids living on our street at the time. We had the type of neighbors we could easily borrow sugar, or anything else from. LOL. We had a great neighborhood.

And then, sadly, in early 2006. the first of our neighbors, the ones right next door, put their house up for sale. They moved out that March. Their house sat empty for 5-6 months while the house was on the market, and then while the banks tried to get people qualified and into the house.

And then in October 2006, the neighbors directly across the street from ours, sold their house and moved away, taking their six kids with them.

Both were sad losses and we were sad to see them leave, but the worst was when our neighbors on the other side of us put their house up for sale due to a job relocation to the East Coast. They left in July of last year. And if you've been following my blog for a while, you'll remember my postings of the hard times I had with having lost my best friend living next door. I can hardly believe in just a few weeks, they'll have been gone a year.

In recent years, our little neighborhood has changed. Gone are the days of the block parties. Gone are the days of massive amounts of kids playing out in the street. Gone is the tight knit little community. And gone are some of those new neighbors that only moved in less than two years ago.

The people who moved into the house next to us appeared to struggle from the beginning. Several times, there were numerous families living under the roof. And in recent months, they were pulling their car into the backyard behind their house. We believe to avoid the repossession of their car. Three days ago, the family was seen packing up, loading up trucks. Yesterday, the police were here to lock things up. No Trespassing signs were posted. The locksmith changing locks. The realtor placing a lock box on the front door. The family had lost their home. As sad as it is to think about a family loosing their home. In one way we're glad to see them leave our neighborhood. The house they lived in, once cute and attractive with a very well manicured yard, had been left to die, going unwatered for the majority of the almost two years they'd lived here. The yard often spewed about with trash laying about, the trash cans on pick up days overflowing with trash. It was really the first house and yard you saw when you turn onto our street, it made our cul de sac very unattractive. No, those things won't be missed.

But now, we're in serious restoration mode. Steven spent over two hours this evening in that front yard fixing, adjusting, replacing sprinklers. The water is still on, and until someone questions it, we're going to do our best to get that yard green again. In a few weeks, we'll ask our gardener to mow, edge, and trim.

We're also back in serious prayer mode for the Lord to bring us good neighbors. Perhaps a family with young kids who will get a good deal. Perhaps a Christian family whom we can befriend and have a common interest with. Perhaps an older couple who likes kids??

Anyways, our neighborhood is changing again. And such is life, full of changes.