neighbors

Don is my daughter's neighbor.

He is straight out of a movie, not one of those romantic movies, but one of the horror ones.

She planted a little garden on the side of yard, and about the time it came up, "don" sprayed it with RoundUp, because: "It was bringing bugs into his yard."

The garden was throughly on her side of the fence, but oh well.

His place thoroughly covered by surveillance cameras. The neighbors on the other side had girl who would pose and make faces for the cameras. Mom: "Don't tease stupid people."

Once his El Camino was parked on the street and a local contractor's pickup rolled into it. "Don" made sure he got a whole new paint job and a lot of other stuff out of the insurance company.

Now he parks his 70 something Chevy pickup in the same place, obviously waiting for the same thing to happen again. The pickup is legally licensed (though I don't think it actually runs). Ever so often "Don" comes out with a paint brush and house paint and gives it a fresh coat of white paint, so it does not look abandoned.

I walked down toward his fence with a tape measure in my hand and he was out in a flash to check on my intentions.

When I think of my neighbors, who are about as good as they get, i am blessed.

The "Don's" of the world add a bit of texture to the mix, but at a horrible price, I fear.