Good Neighbors

On our tiny street, just one car wide and eight houses long, we have some wonderful neighbors - every age and stage from small children to a lovely silver-haired lady who has lived here since the 1930s when she and her late husband built the first house on the block.

In the years we have lived here, we have seen the children grow from youngsters having their pony birthday parties into bright young things headed for college. The silver haired lady had cancer surgery some years ago and scared us all, but she's fine now. Some of my fondest memories include Hallowe'ens admiring the kids' outlandish costumes and, one summer evening as I drove in after a hard day's work, being chased by five middle schoolers joyously waving and shouting "Welcome home! Welcome home!"

This is the last peach on our tree. Rosy and plump outside and no doubt sweet and juicy inside, it is only a day away from picking itself and releasing the hardworking tree to a well-deserved rest. I left this one on the tree as a gift to our neighbor, P, who hauled all our berry canes, ivy vines and tree stumps to the dump for us in his handy trailer. Sad that this remarkable Season of the Peach is ending, but it seemed a fitting gift for an extraordinary display of neighborliness.