The View From My Back Deck

It's a beautiful evening, not hot, not cold, and importantly, not buggy.  It's an unusually good summer evening to sit on my back deck with a beverage and some music, and take a look around.

First I see my neighbor to the east.  She’s been widowed for years now.  She’s out doing yard work, which she seemed to have enjoyed a lot more 10 years ago, but not so much now that she’s around 80 years old.  A few weeks ago, she told me she recently retired, and was spending more time with her great-grandchildren.   Unfortunately, she doesn’t get to spend as much time with them as she wants, because now she has a houseful to help take care of, too.  That’s because in the past year, she’s allowed four people to move in with her:  Her partially disabled, adult son (or brother, not sure); her grandson’s mother-in-law, who is effectively renting her basement for $100 a month; and now her adult granddaughter and the granddaughter’s boyfriend.  Let’s just say, this neighbor has some people taking advantage of her Iowa Nice.

Now I see the adult granddaughter and the boyfriend.   They walked out to check the mail, although it isn’t clear why that task needed both of them.  Maybe they were on one of their outdoor smoke breaks?  My neighbor allowed them to move in with her a few months ago – even though she doesn’t approve of them living together.  She told me she’s hoping to ”straighten out” the girl, implying social/legal problems in the past.   Since the couple has lived there, there has been no sign they’re working, they clearly have no ambition to help with any yard work, and their dog disappeared (or more likely, ran away from them).   Clearly, there is a lot of straightening out still to be done.

Now I see my neighbors to the northeast.  He and his wife, daughter, and daughter’s boyfriend are just returning from an afternoon of boating.  They have a nice boat they keep at home, and they’re very good about getting out with it in the summer.   He runs his own business out of his garage, has some nice toys (like the boat) and keeps a clean property, although in 15 years I’ve never seen his wife or daughter do any of the work on said property.  The daughter is a bit of a wild child, and although she’s still in high school, he’s mentioned that he’s ready for her to move out.  We’ve heard shouting matches many times over the years, although on this evening, like the weather, it’s calm.

Now I see the wife carrying their old, grungy-looking dog outside and setting it on the front lawn.  This is her version of walking the dog.  It’s been this way for years, probably since the month after they got the dog, after ‘new puppy’ syndrome wore off.  Within a minute, the dog poops basically in the same spot where it was set down, and hobbles back to the front door to be let in again.  Every year, this makes for an interesting patchwork of deep green grass next to the lighter greens and brown parts of the lawn.  Of course, the whole thing is pathetic – and I mean both the dog and the way it’s treated.  Good grief, why do people keep dogs that they don’t want to care for properly?

No time to worry about that now.  It's still a beautiful evening, and only a few minutes have passed.  Time to enjoy the simple pleasures of my more uncomplicated life.