Category: neighborhood

Posted in Life, neighborhood

The misbehaving sprinkler

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The big dog and I know the sounds of the dawn. Birds begin to sing when the sky turns from black to blue. In the distance, garbage trucks are emptying the trash cans in the neighborhood. A rooster crows from behind a home at the halfway point of our walk. Japanese-made motorcycles whine in the distance as they speed down traffic-free roads. Dogs bark from inside homes as we walk by.

We didn’t recognize this sound. A bit like static on the radio, water in the sink, someone crumpling paper, and washing the car.

We rounded a slow curve and saw it. A broken sprinkler was shooting a stream of water right at the driver’s door of a black pickup truck. I’m used to seeing maladjusted sprinklers aiming water at the street, driveways, straight up the heavens, and into recycling bins. I’ve never seen a spray target the side of a truck.

Is this a bad thing? I don’t know. Heavy rains pummel my vehicles during torrential thunderstorms and hurricanes. I let car washes powerfully spray my vehicle with soap, rinses, and hot dryers.

Would water from this spray get inside the truck? Would it wear off the finish? I have no idea. It just didn’t seem like the ideal situation.

It was early. 6:30 am-ish. No one was up to see where the water was squirting. Oh well. I wouldn’t worry about a hurricane if I were you.

Posted in Life, neighbor, neighborhood

Let’s tear this place up!

Posted on by William Douthwaite

The Great Dane and I walk by this recently built house just about every day. Lately, the owner has been methodically tearing out this large section of his lawn.

Built on a curve in the road, this house is either built on a double lot or a really big oversized lot. Just after it was complete, the owner tore out all the landscaping around the house. He removed all the shrubs and mulch, and put down sod in those areas. New home landscaping typically isn’t exciting. Once you’ve closed on the house, you can fix up your yard any way you want.

Next, the owner installed about two dozen lights in the yard. The lights were along the driveway or front walkway. They were all out in the middle of the yard. I’m sure there was a reason.

Next, he set up cinderblocks and two-by-fours as a makeshift fence. At first, I thought he might be setting up a little garden. But every day the cleared area grew bigger. I only saw him working on it one time. With nothing more than a grubbing hoe, he chopped away at his lawn. I took the above picture two weeks ago. As of this morning, he had cleared out that whole area. I should have stopped to ask him why he was tearing up all the sod.

Okay, so what’s going on? What’s the plan? What is he going to do with this thousand square foot area?

  • Maybe he’s going to pave this area and move the fence closer to the road. But that’s a huge area for a paver patio.
  • If he were putting in a pool, he would have let the contractor take all that out with heavy machinery.
  • He’s already got a large fenced-in backyard. It seems like that’s where you would put your pool or patio.
  • Adding on to the house? I’d see a permit.
  • Maybe he wants a different kind of grass. St. Augustine grass takes lot of water and care. Perhaps he’ll go with Zoysia or Bahia.
  • Maybe he’ll plant lots of trees and have a little park next to his house. That’s a creative idea.

I’m interested to see what happens next. Oh, and you know what else? All the windows are blacked out, so I see no light from inside when we walk by in the evening. Hmm. What do you think is going on in there?

Posted in Devotions, neighbor, neighborhood, Through the Bible Devotions

The new neighbor

Posted on by William Douthwaite

A “through the bible” devotion from Genesis 34 and 35.

We try to be good neighbors. You know, friendly, keep an eye on each other’s houses, keep the yard looking nice, and pick up trash. Smile.

Most of our neighbors are like that. But not all. Some yards are kind of trashy. Some throw garbage into vacant lots. Some don’t seem to know how to smile. a few are kind of scary looking.

Jacob’s neighbors weren’t fond of him when he brought his family back to Canaan. After Simeon and Levi avenged the abuse of their sister Dinah, Jacob feared attacks from the locals (34:30). But the locals were afraid of them and avoided them (Genesis 35:5).

I guess that’s ok. But I’d rather the neighbors bring me a plate of cookies. I’d want to introduce myself (and my dogs) and get to know them (and their dogs). Let’s exchange smiles rather than scowls.

If kid’s won’t even knock on your door at Halloween, you might want to give a wave or crack a smile once in a while.

Posted in Life, neighbor, neighborhood

“Is he wearing two different colored socks?”

Posted on by William Douthwaite

If you’ve ever read my writing, you know I love to take a photo and wonder, “What in the world is going on here?” This is one of those moments.

The big dog and I were half way through our early morning walk when we came across this gentleman watering his gardens. He just moved into this just build house. He immediately tore out the builder’s stock landscaping plants and must planted something new, otherwise he’s just watering the mulch.

But the thing that really caught my eye was his socks. I asked the big dog, “Is he wearing two different color socks?” Intentional? Accidental? I don’t know.

  • I know that you’ve all got orphan socks at home. Dryers consume them so that we are left with drawers full of single socks with no partners. After a while, you just pull out two, knowing that you’ve got no matches.
  • It could be a special sock for a special foot condition. Perhaps a clean, white sock (or a black one) is better for whatever toe ailment he is nursing.
  • If you wake up before sunrise and don’t want to disturb other sleepers, you might pull out a mismatched pair in the dark. But most mismatched pairs would be blue-black, or colors not too different from one another. The contrast here would be difficult to miss, even in the darkest room.
  • Maybe his partner is wearing the exact same pair, and he had no others to choose from.
  • Some of my grandsons wear mismatched socks on purpose. They find certain color combinations appealing, especially when dressing in uniform for a sport.

I should have stopped and asked. Maybe he didn’t know. Maybe he doesn’t care. I know, maybe it’s none of my business.

But it’s fun to speculate.

Besides, black and white works, right? It works for cookies, zebras, newspapers, and photographic effects.

Posted in neighborhood

Another catalog hit the driveway this morning

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Just what I need: more trash in the driveway. This means there’s more trash in driveways throughout the neighborhood, right alongside countless Pennysaver newspapers that no one bothers to pick up. Great.

Apparently, this is someone’s genius marketing plan. “I know. Let’s toss a catalog onto each driveway. Everyone will pick it up, order something, and we’ll be rich!” Just like the cleaning service that put a business card in a zip lock bag with some rocks and it in my yard. I want to pick it up, call the number and tell them to come and collect all their trash.

Here’s the problem. These aren’t major league players. Many throws miss the driveway or lawn altogether. Cars run over them. Rain soaks them. The streets are dotted with piles of soggy mess.

Well, some streets are. In my neighborhood, when walking the dogs, I’ve taken on the task of throwing errant papers up onto their respective yards, often joining others from previous weeks. Now someone eventually has to move them to cut the lawn.

My wife said, “Does anyone even buy Avon anymore?” I was wondering the same thing myself. From what I understand, sellers have to purchase catalogs to fling out the window as they drive through the community.

I have an idea. Just toss cash out the window. The dogs and I will be glad to clean up after you!