On my Neighborhood.......

Sometimes I feel like I'm the luckiest person in the world when it comes to the neighborhood in which I live in. I'm on a street that's fairly quiet, with a few vacant homes or flats that I'm sure will soon be rented. There aren't as many families with children living on my block anymore but, the few that remain are pretty much well behaved. My neighbors are very friendly and (lucky for me) nosy. Well, atleast they're nosy enough to know if someone is snooping around my house that doesn't belong there. That makes me feel comfortable. Good neighbors are hard to come by now-a-days.

I have a neighbor who lives across the street from me named Joe. He's a retired man right around eighty years old. Joe is of Italian decent. His wife passed away a few years back so now, his daughter comes over to visit and check in on him several times a week. Joe is a rather stern, and stubborn man in his ripe old age. He still drives although his speed never goes beyond about 20 mph. He used to be and still is considered the "Block Captain" of our street. He still makes his rounds, driving around the block and through the alleyways, checking on the neighborhood and making sure that everything is the way it should be. (ie: no trash blocking the alley, stray animals running loose, lawn upkeep--can't have anybody growing forests around here--LOL, visible addresses on the backs of garages, etc....) All in all, he's a good neighbor.

A couple nextdoor to me, Cindy & Bill, have just become brand new grandparents to a beautiful baby girl named Kaylin. She's absolutely adorable with eyes as blue as the color font I'm typing with. Kaylin was born to their oldest daughter Elizabeth (Lizzy) prematurely. She only weighed not quite 2lbs. at birth. She's a little miracle indeed! Cindy & Bill have another daughter named Stacey who attends college full time. They've been wonderful neighbors to live by for many years. I hope they never move.

My neighbors on the opposite side are Bosnian. I've spoken of them before. They seem to be a very close knit family. The husband/father is named Mitsda and his wife Levita are very friendly. Mitsda doesn't speak english very well but his wife speaks it quite fluently. They have 3 children, all boys. Alan is the oldest, then Dennis, and the youngest is Chivall. Chivall is rather mischevious but he's only around 8 years old so it's to be expected. All of the children speak very fluent english. There is an older woman living there as well, I believe that she is Mitsda's mother. She speaks no english. I have never been more grateful to have neighbors like I have now ever in my entire life. Especially this family. These people are the nicest, most respectful, and cleanest neighbors I've ever had. Mitsda has a very bountiful garden in his backyard and so does Bill so, between the two of them, I have plenty of vegetables given to me. YUMMY!!

There is one thing that troubles me though. I feel that everyone has a right to live their life the way they want as long as they aren't breaking any laws. That's a part of one of our many freedoms we have in this beautiful country we live in. What upsets me are the people who want to dictate a way of life for others to live by. I can't stand that. My Bosnian neighbors have had the police called on them several times by some of the people who live on my street. This includes the other two families I've mentioned. I personally have no problem with them and I live right next door to them but some of the other people on the block seem to have many problems with them. Whether it's the loud music that they play--which isn't played at late hours of the night, only in the daytime and not everyday, or the fact they have a smokehouse that stands about as tall as an outhouse where they smoke their meats occasionally in the wintertime. Of course some of the neighbors on the block don't like the smell from the smokehouse so they claim that it bothers them and chokes them. I say that's a BUNCH OF HOGWASH!!!!! If that's the case, why doesn't the smoke bother them when I use my smoker or BBQ??? RACISM IS A MOT**RF**KER FOLKS!!! You all need to stop this sillyness and accept the fact that we are all human beings........Mitsda and his family are honest hardworking people trying to live the American Dream just like everyone else. THEY HAVE THAT RIGHT! I am so ashamed for the way in which they are treated by my neighbors. I hope things begin to change soon for the better because as it stands right now, I feel torn in the middle....I like all of my neighbors ya know what I mean?........Personally, I feel it is a gift to get the chance to learn about other people and their cultures that they bring with them but that's just me. A few days ago, I was feeling so guilty for the way they've been treated. I bought some T-bone steaks we had on sale at my store, ( six of them) and I gave them to Dennis on Mother's Day so they could have a nice steak dinner if they chose to do so. I told Dennis that I appreciated all the vegetables given to me by his parents and that I wanted to appologize for my fellow neighbors and their actions. He smiled and accepted the steaks and thanked me. I know this doesn't solve the problem but atleast it let's them know that they have friends on the block who appreciate being neighbors with them. Tonight, when I came home, Mitsda & Levita's son Dennis brought me a plate of pastry that his mother made. It smelled soooooooooo good and was still warm from the oven. Unfortunately, I couldn't eat any because I'd just eaten dinner but I wrapped it up in plastic wrap and intend on sinking my teeth in it tomorrow sometime. MMMMMMMMMM......can't wait for that!! Diet? What diet? LOL Oh well......