Neighbours

​One thing about this place is how many properties we share a boundary fence with.  It is six.  We do not know all our neighbours, but we do know some.
The guy and his wife next door we have regular contact with.  They have two kids.  We look out for their place and they look out for ours when either of us are away.  We share tools and a chin wag.  Twice they have prepared too much food and we have enjoyed their meals when they called out and offered them to us.  They have a dog.  We love it.  But it is not the sort of dog I choose to get close to.  It is a great watch dog.  The best thing is it does not bark unnecessarily.
The people next door to them we know too.  We got to know them better when a dog escaped and terrorized their cat.  Merril and I went over after we heard the commotion as did the guy next door.  We took the dog to our place and contacted the council.  It had a tag and the council contacted the owner who came and got him.  Again it was a beautiful dog just doing what dogs do. I am not fond of cats (though I have had many and loved them, I just think they are really bad for native wildlife).  The cat had disappeared and never have I wanted to see a cat as bad.  It turned up later.  It was probably watching to make sure the coast was clear.
The next neighbour we call the policeman.  He is an older fella and stands out the front observing seemingly everything.  He has no pets but the Corella’s love his big tree.  He has another big tree, but it looks like it is on its way out.  Merril and I are seeing more and more brown on it.
The people next to him are a young couple.  They have a couple of kids and a couple of dogs which we would not like to meet on a dark night (the dogs that is, not the kids).  The guy burns off at the slightest change.  When I hear him mow, I know there will be burning off.  If the grass is too wet no problem.  Just add petrol.  It is a wonder there is any furniture left in the house as it seems everything gets burned.  That is so different to us.  We look for an excuse not to burn while he seems to look for an excuse to burn.
I do not know the people next to them.  They are new.  They have a pool down the back.  When it rained a lot, water used to come into our place from theirs.  I have sealed off our side now, so we no longer have a problem.
Then there is our new next-door neighbours on the other side.  They rent.  It seems they prefer to remain anonymous.  We say hello and wave but their response always seems to be based on “I must” rather than an “I want to.”  That is fine.  To me, I would rather not enough interaction than too much.
This is a good place to live.  We have no dogs but others do.  They sound the alarm when necessary.  The birds seem to feel comfortable here.  They treat the place like it is theirs.  We like it here.  Not too big, not too small.  Oh, and did I tell you about our new shed?