Neighbors
Unless one lives alone on an island one is bound to have neighbors. There are varying degrees of interaction with them, from the noise to the suspicious silence of an upstairs apartment, from a dense suburban neighborhood with stereos and revving motorcycles to a bucolic countryside with great distances between dwellings.
I would venture that nearly everyone at one time or another has experienced both good and bad neighbors. There are neighbors who become friends.
Let's get together for tea and crumpets.
And some disagreements can get out of hand.
Get out and stay out. And take your gerbil with you!!
Although Sonoma County is large and rural there is a much smaller percentage of public land than, for instance, neighboring Marin County, where 48% of the land is public. We tend to be quite possessive about our privacy, fences abound, and "get off my lawn" clearly applies here. We are not thrilled about people hiking or biking on our fields.
All my mushrooms are belong to ME.
Recently the county proposed a new ordinance on water wells and septic tanks. Part of this included annual inspections to ensure that all wells and septic systems were working properly and were within the guidelines. Never have we seen such outrage and anger; huge meetings of citizens were held in massive venues confronting those who proposed the ordinance. For a generally liberal county some rather rough statements were made, like "they better wear bulletproof vests" etc. The county and state backed off (for now).
Thus there is not as much neighborly discussion to resolve problems. Instead we often use an intermediary such as a surveyor for property disputes or animal control for dog noise. Noisy parties are confronted by the police.
Here was my experience. Although quite distant, the barking dogs across the street sounded like they were directly under my windows. This was due to a peculiar auditory tunnel which amplified the sound. And with single pane windows, going inside was no relief. They would bark constantly for hour after hour. I suffered in silence but full of vitriol. I requested the proper forms from animal control and was ready to send them in.
Then I ran into the neighbors adjacent to the dog noise. "How do you stand the constant barking from x?" I asked. They looked at me blankly. "They don't have dogs"
The light dawned for both of us, I think, but there was no immediate improvement. I told the story to neighbor c who had come over to ask a favor. This man, a lawyer, then discussed it with the guilty neighbors and the problem was and is solved. I wrote them a long letter thanking them and now all is rosy….and quiet. But at the time I was more afraid of confrontation than upset about the noise. I believe I learned a valuable lesson.
How are your neighbors? If there were problems, how would you handle them? Is your neighborhood as insular as mine? I would be interested to hear.
Kitchen Table Kibitzing is a community series for those who wish to share part of the evening around a virtual kitchen table with kossacks who are caring and supportive of one another. So bring your stories, jokes, photos, funny pics, music, and interesting videos, as well as links—including quotations—to diaries, news stories, and books that you think this community would appreciate.
Readers may notice that most who post diaries and comments in this series already know one another to some degree, but newcomers should not feel excluded. We welcome guests at our kitchen table, and hope to make some new friends as well.