...Homemade Rainbows...


Thursday, October 22, 2009

over the back fence

This is a sight often seen at our back fence.
You see, we are blessed. We have great neighbours.
There is a besser block platform on our side and a ladder on theirs.
It is our meeting ground, a place for a chat or a beer, a point to plan who's house we will congregate at for dinner or a spot for just a quick hello.
We joke but I know there will be a gate built there one day....someone has to spare the dress wearing Mama from climbing that ladder too many more times.

We gathered at our house for another impromptu dinner last night that rightly turned into a feast....of food and friendship. A half baked pie was quickly transferred...via that ladder...to our oven. A salad was picked from the garden and tossed on the table to add to the BBQ'd food we already had grilling. The best kind of pot luck dinner!
The wine flowed and the laughter grew louder...as did the children before it was time for a quick splash in the bath together. The very kind of thing memories are made from.

We have been lucky to add another neighbourhood family with another little one of their own to our melting pot this week too. We have lived across the street as long as we have been here. Sometimes it takes a little longer to put the *ladder* up you know, but when you do it is a special thing. It feels a bit like turning back the clock to times when I was young and almost all the houses in the street were common ground. It's a shame the world has become such a cautious and withdrawn place.
But we have created a small sanctuary of community....our tribe.
A community where our children can grow together and we can watch out for each other, plan more camping trips together (the more the merrier) and though it creates some regular late school nights....lots more pot luck dinners together at one of our three homes.

And as for the family on the other side? Well those wild tomatoes have been staked to their side of the fence and are quickly fattening and turning red. Every now and then I hear them talking and make out the words *tomato* and *red*. It makes me smile...not because I don't have luck with fat red tomatoes that should be growing on my side of the fence!...but because I'm inadvertently sharing my harvests, hopefully a passion for growing food and, friendship....in a round about way. There is hope.

Maybe I won't be so hasty as to move away from civilisation to my dream patch of paradise....well, unless our tribe comes too.

13 comments:

shine little light* said...

That's SO cool being friends with your neighbours. I love the idea of having that kind of community.

Jodi said...

you live in a special place...and you document it with sensitivity and honesty. it's beautiful

Tricia said...

Community is so important isn't it. I live in a place where there is no sense of community - although I know that is going to change. We aree starting a few community building projects and I am so excited. I hope in a few years (or even months) I have the same sense of community as you do where I live.

mountainwildlife said...

You truly are blessed, your neighbours sound lovely.

I haven't had that feeling since the 80's, when we did indeed just wander in and out of friends houses. Our society has become so closed and insular (myself included).

Saddens me a little.

Sabrina said...

Wow Leanne- you are so very lucky to have neighbors like that. What a perfectly magical sounding evening with friends. I hope to be part of such a warm community someday...

Levin said...

it sounds absolutely wonderful and it is what is lacking in our society these days. not many people have time to reach out and say hello to neighbours - but i think life would be so much better if we did. sometimes i think we need to slow down and take time to enjoy life and the people in it rather than spend all our days working hard so we can buy 'things'. 'Things' certainly don't make me as happy as memories such as these do. My childhood was filled with them and I am trying to recreate it for my family too.
Enjoy your tribe
l
x

Levin said...

ps - yes, my scarecrow is currently drowning in flowers. I think he rather likes being inconspicuous ;-)
oh and my studies are going well - i love what i'm learning and i love being out and about and doing 'grown up' things. so far everything is running smoothly - which makes it even better.
l
x

Jules said...

we have the gate... and many happy memories from the day it was built.
very special indeed.

Madeline said...

That is truly a very special blessing. When I was a young kid we had a few amazing neighbors, and we spent our time going from house to house. Those were some incredible times.

global mamas said...

What a gorgeous blog you have, so glad I found you!
I am searching for a tribe like yours...I hope to find it soon :)

Kate Moore said...

It sounds idyllic. There is a patch of houses near me that sit together with no fences and a shared garden space. I never see anyone outside, but do wonder if they like it that way, or whether the families that originally planned the space and have possibly moved on have left something that is maybe not understood by the people who have come after them. And, yes, what about those days when there was a gate between every house? Yah for then.

gardenmama said...

so very beautiful to have found your tribe!
certainly a blessing that is sometimes hard to come by!

Umatji said...

I love the photo - we also have good 'borrow a cup of sugar' kind of neighbours - you don't realise how lucky you are till you don't have them!