love the library’s front window
‘love your neighbor’
‘you’re all neighbors.’
—
‘being a good neighbor is an art which makes life richer.’
-gladys taber, american author
Nov4
Tag Archives: neighbor
Jul1
thanks to our neighbors, on canada day.
things you might not know were invented in canada
1. Peanut Butter -1884 (by a pharmacist as an option for people who couldn’t chew food)
2. The Wonder Bra – 1939 (by Canadian Lady Corset Company)
3.Trivial Pursuit – 1979 (by a sports editor and photo editor who couldn’t find all their Scrabble squares)
4. Odometer – 1954 (by a nova scotia inventor)
5. Rotary Snowplow – 1869 (by a dentist – a popular train track clearing device)
6. Egg Carton – 1911 (by a newspaper editor who found a new use for paper)
7. Imax – 1967 (by 3 filmmakers and an engineer)
8. McIntosh Apples – 1835 (by a farmer grafting his wild apple trees)
9. Walkie Talkie – 1937 – (by a western canadian inventor)
10. Insulin – 1922 – ( by 3 toronto scientists- not invented but discovered it and its use )
11. Instant Replay – 1955 (by a cbc tv producer)
12. Foghorn – 1854 (by an inventor/civil engineer/artist – who never patented it)
13. Green currency ink – 1862 (by chemist/mineralogist – ink used to make us dollars green)
14. Baggage tag – 1882 (by a new brunswick railway man)
15. Paint Roller – 1940 (by a canadian inventor – later tweaked and patented by an american)
16. Standard Time- 1883 (by an engineer who brought it to canadian and american railways)
17. Wheelchair – accessible bus – 1945 (by a blind, quadriplegic veteran – took his first ride after his death)
18. Electric Wheelchair – 1952 (by an engineer)
19. Plastic Trash bags – 1950 (by 2 inventors – later sold to union carbide and became glad bags)
—
“i don’t even know what street canada is on.”
-al capone, american gangster
—
source credits: amanda green, mental floss, canadian pixel
Sep28
national neighbor day.
won’t you be my neighbor?
“the more we can be in a relationship with those who might seem strange to us,
the more we can feel like we’re neighbors and all members of the human family.”
-fred rogers
—
in honor of mr. rogers on this day and every day
—
image credit: pghcitypaper.com
Aug20
salutations.
what a lovely surprise I found at my new home
when I came out to the front porch in the morning
an intricate web had been spun by a resident spider
such a beautiful welcome.
—
“salutations are greetings, it’s my fancy way of saying hello.”
e.b. white – charlotte’s web
Jun11
max.
the kindhearted and quiet and hardworking kid
who comes and goes
without much of a pattern
asking if i’ll hire him
to shovel my snow and mow my lawn
now has a name – ‘max’
and his legend is growing and spreading
he came once when i wasn’t home
and my neighbor paid him to do my lawn
in return for the help i’d given her in the past
and the next time he was over mowing
max suddenly stopped his mower
because he found a baby squirrel
who had fallen from the nest in the tree
and was sitting motionless and scared
we tried to pick the squirrel up
but he feebly ran away
into my neighbor’s yard
who then came out to help
and we all took him to my other neighbor’s house
who loves the squirrels
and said that he didn’t look good
put him in his backyard and see if he would play
then brought him back
and laid him down below my tree
the squirrel soon passed away
and we buried him in the garden
and now, after meeting him
my other neighbor has given max a job as well
and as more and more
of his generous and hard-working sprit is revealed
his business and his reputation as a decent human being
both continue to grow.
—
“as much as we need a prosperous economy,
we also need a prosperity of kindness and decency.”
-caroline kennedy
Mar10
who?
that moment when you realize that
you have been calling your neighbor ‘phil’ for three years
only to find out that his name is really ‘al.’
—
“1 call everyone ‘darling’ because i can’t remember their names. “
-zsa zsa gabor
—
image credit: twitter
Feb11
shovel.
one day
at the beginning of this long winter
a sweet kid not more than 14 years old
showed up at my front door
shovel in hand
wearing sweatshirt and gloves
quiet and polite
asking if i wanted to hire him
yes!
without a moment’s hesitation
soon he was at work
clearing my walks, my driveway, my porch
he charged me a very fair rate
looking to make some cash before christmas
lives with his mom
in an apartment nearby
i know nothing else about him
except that he works very hard
often appears without warning
just in time
to clear my path and then
is gone again as soon as he’s finished his work
i’ve no way to contact him
sometimes i see his steps and shovel marks
signs that he’s stopped over
but our timing was off
and now
on this weekend
with the long days of deep snow
he’s nowhere to be found
oh, where, oh, where,
is the kid with the shovel?
and so
i am paying myself
getting a free workout
day after day
i’m sure i’ll see him again
maybe when it’s time
to move dirt
for the gardens.
—
“never doubt the power of love or one woman with a shovel.”
-carrie newcomer
Aug15
neighbors.
1st annual neighborhood block party
nice for all of us to mix together
rather than just pass on the street
get to know each other a bit better
police, fire, and ice cream people
the holy trinity of community support
came by for a visit
raised money for toys for our neighborhood park
lots of people, lots of food, lots of fun.
—
“nothing makes you more tolerant of a neighbor’s noisy party than being there.”
-franklin p. jones
Jun26
give what you have.
found this sweet surprise
waiting for me in my mailbox
a very old tiny sleigh with a handwritten letter
from a neighbor i’ve never met
who’s lived nearby for over 50 years
she left it for me to add to my fairy garden
when the season is right
she took the trouble to repaint the sleigh
and write me this lovely note
wanting to visit the garden
but too shy to stop by to see it up close
it was such a kind and thoughtful gesture
i wanted to thank her and figured out where she lived
then wrote her a long letter back
to let her know
how much i enjoyed her special gift
and what it meant to me
i really hope that we meet in person in my garden one day.
—
“give what you have. to someone, it may be better than you dare to think.”
― henry wadsworth longfellow
I didn't have my glasses on.... 