3rd, 4th, and House Neighbors

Rhino and Jared just pulled out of the driveway, off to snowcave with the boyscouts. I'm so glad I'm not a boy. So it's the perfect time for me to write my next installment.

Our 3rd apartment:
This one needs a preface. This was probably my favorite place that we have lived, despite the colorful neighborhood. We made so many good friends while we lived here and had a great time. But, as always, there are some interesting people to remember.
Backwoods John: Our neighbor from Alabama who kept a loaded shotgun next to his bed just in case. I never went over to borrow a cup of sugar late at night. They had us babysit their pet hedgehogs for a week and our nephews loved them.
Sneaky Bob: Our neighbor who 'borrowed' a lot of things and asked later. Usually our newspaper, and once our couch for his relatives to sleep on (this is how we learned it is not always a good idea to exchange keys in case you get locked out).
Mopey Manager: For some reason we could never get on well with the manager of this apartment complex. They were continually upset with our parking methods. Shamefully, I never did try very hard to be her friend. I think I made her cry on more than one occasion. Does it count if I feel bad about it now?
Ladies of the Night: Not just one fun neighbor, but a rotating shift. One time she was hanging out directly in front on the sidewalk of our building. We called the police, only to be informed that she was undercover and please don't approach her. That particular lady was gifted at playing the role. While I was in graduate school, we had a weekly study group. It was my turn to host it, and upon arrival the male member of our group, Randy, had a face-to-face with an officer who escorted him to our door to make sure he really was there to 'study'. Good times.

4th apartment: We were there a short time, and it was just a 4plex, but still fun.
Opposite couple: We had a lot in common with the folks that lived across the hall from us. We both had infant sons, born about two weeks apart; we'd been married about the same amount of time; we both liked barbecuing out on the sidewalk. But some things didn't match up as well. For example, he was the boudoir photographer and she was a lingerie model at the local Blue Boutique Adult Shop and Piercing Emporium. They were very friendly and their baby was cute, but the art on their walls was just a little too personal for my taste, so we didn't spend a lot of time with them.

Our first home:
We LOVED our first home. It was cozy and quaint, and we did a lot of work in it to make it our own. We lived there for seven years, even though the original plan was to be there for 2-3 and move on. Here are the acquaintances that stand out.
Screaming Lady: Next door to us was a duplex. In the north side a lady lived alone, but was periodically to be found yelling, actually screaming, profanities out the window or door. I think she probably had Tourette syndrome, but it was sometimes unnerving.
Rainy: This was the woman in the south side of the duplex. She was probably in her early fifties, but looked much, much older. She liked to wear a kitty face sweatshirt that she had unstitched and put back together with safety pins as an artistic touch. We were on friendly terms with her and would visit across the fence often. She was very diligent about watching out for our house and our kids. If something suspicious was going on, she'd let us know. She continually had interesting people coming in and out of her house. Ryan and I were pretty quick to make rash judgments about most of them. Once, an ornately tattooed man with long hair and very dirty clothing rang her bell while were were out doing yardwork. We subtly took the kids inside for a snack. We had pretty much assumed he was probably there to buy or sell something illegal. But we were embarrassed to look out the window after a few minutes and see him washing Rainy's windows for her. We'd never bothered to do that. I remember that day pretty clearly, and try to use it as a lesson to myself. Rainy told us once about how she was sure something was living in her attic crawl space because she kept hearing noises up there and she planned to call an exterminator. A few days later while she was taking a nap on the couch, a man opened the ceiling access and climbed out! He'd apparently been sleeping up there for a couple of weeks. It was an acquaintance of an acquaintance kind of thing and someone gave him a key. I sometimes wonder if she's still living there.
The church: Across the street was the Alrasool Islamic Center. They could really throw a party! After 9/11 no one came around for months. It was sad. Their parking lot was where Jared learned to ride a two-wheeler.
The dog family: (Please don't be offended if you do this too. I'm just not a huge dog lover, especially of my own.) One family in our neighborhood invited us to dinner. Directly next to their dining room table, in the place of some of the chairs, was a large dog run with three Scottish Terriers who looked at us hungrily and whined all through the dinner.
Phantom Pear Thrower: I never figured out who this was. But in the fall if I was doing something in the backyard, pears would come arcing over the shrubs and into the yard. I'd run over to the fence by the alley and see if I could see the culprit, but I never caught them. This seriously happened every year on at least a couple of days. Ryan tried to convince me it was probably a bird, but I think a bird large enough to carry pears would be more noticeable, don't you? None of the pears ever hit me on the head, which was my fear.

Our current home:
You didn't really think I'd describe all my current neighbors did you? I have to wait until we move, which could be awhile as we really like it here. But I am keeping notes!