I suppose everyone has had to put up with a lousy neighbor at some point in their life. I have certainly had more than my share over the years. There has been the next door apartment leased to college kids who liked to party late into the night, and the family whose yard was an obstacle course of broken machinery and wrecked automobiles. Then it seems every neighborhood has that one couple who had to always be spying into everyone's business with occasional calls to 911 just to make things even more contentious.
More times than I care to count over the last fifty years of living on my own, I've had to knock on a neighbor's door about a problem with their kids, pets, noise or some infraction of normal neighborhood behavior.
I will admit that since hubby and I retired we have had to be more understanding of things like noises that wakes us up, only because we no longer have a set routine. We have gravitated toward a nocturnal life and can be caught sleeping at almost any time of day or night. So, a neighbor repairing their roof in the mid afternoon has to be overlooked. When I was a day sleeper due to work I used white sound, ear muffs, and heavy curtains to make my bedroom into night but now it seems like too much effort.
Over the last few weeks, we have had many odd things in the neighborhood rousing us from our needed rest, all of which we were helpless to change.
These blackbirds settled into the tree behind us and decided to stay for a few days feeding on whatever it was they were finding in the field between us and the church behind us. Their noise was remarkable. They could be scared off but they kept coming back.
Another day we were awakened to both the phone and cable companies doing repairs on the street by our house. This pole is only a few feet from our kitchen window. The hard hat in the bucket just had to shoot the breeze with the guy on the ground which required him to speak loudly. The two of them had a lot to talk about.
A few days ago we went to bed during a heavy rain and woke up several hours later to what sounded like a plane load of golf balls hitting the roof. The hail stones ranged from pea to nickel size chunks that melted rather quickly.
I do hope the neighborhood will settle down for a while. It is only eight weeks until school will be out and all the kiddies will be waking us with their play. I will admit hearing children having fun is not the worst thing to have to endure in our retirement.
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This has given me a new perspective on (learning to) appreciate others' sleep cycles! DH's hard-of-hearing has made him mostly oblivious to most everything except the occasional C-130 circling overhead! As a result, I've taught myself to be a very light sleeper.
ReplyDeleteGood neighbors? I wish everyone could stop for a moment and remember the Golden Rule.
I worked night shift for 25 years. I got very creative with devices to drown out the light and the noise. People who have never worked the night shift don't understand. I will soon be writing about one of my neighbors!
ReplyDeleteI like bird song, don't mind people working or normal kid noises. But constantly barking dogs can almost send me over the edge. Don't like people who party loudly and late either.
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