My Neighbor is Free

-
My neighbor believes in freedom. He is free to have the biggest eyesore in the neighborhood. He is free to destroy the sidewalk and make it his own private driveway. He is free to have a forty foot flagpole in his front yard that is illuminated from atop his house. He is free to have his light shine on my house. He is free to alienate his children due to his beliefs and attitude. He is free to have the loudest voice in a crowd. He is free to tell people that he was in Vietnam when he was not. He is free to think that he is a good American. The "real" America. He is free to camouflage his boat, his bike, his truck. He is free to have dogs that lived their lives at the end of a six foot chain.
I always thought of freedom as being, "Do what you will but harm ye none." And I guess that he does too. After all, he has not shot at me with one of his many guns.
Perhaps I am influenced by such as my ex-P.O.W. Dad, who was not impressed in the least by my neighbor's military worship. Or perhaps by my two daughter's boyfriends that have both served in Iraq and that just look at him and shake their heads.
And the glitch is, I like him. I respect many of his talents. I know that he has a great distaste for me. And I know that he has spread the cement of my dislike onto others. And I am quite certain that his wife who works (and lives) for the town newspaper has also helped to spread his cement of my dislike. But they are a good pair. Her hypocrisy in her columns has been head scratching to say the least.
Many months ago I subverted some plans that were very important to him. I did so not out of spite or malice but out of a sincere belief that he was not the man that he represented himself to be. I am still paying for that. It's subtle, passive-aggressive, and in ways that I will not share with you.
Yes, my neighbor is free. And good for him...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Happy Valentine's day!!!!

-
Yeah, yeah, I know. Hallmark day. Just a bunch of crap to make us spend money that we don't have. But that's one man's opinion. Could it be that some dolts NEED specially marked holidays to have them stop and acknowledge their honeys? For me, its different. You see, this week, (2/17) the Lady and me got married. TWENTY-NINE YEARS AGO. That's right. You heard it right. And most of my good buds have been married for as long or longer than we. We think the same thoughts at the same time. We are comfortable and have fun together. As I write, we are for the second time in our years together, in deep financial straights. Hand to mouth. A struggle to eat, to heat, to keep our heads above water. And you know what? I'm as happy as a murder of crows. The Lady and I met at bible study. A few years later, we found ourselves living in the same house. I paid her little notice. She will tell you that she knew we would get married after one our first meetings some years earlier. ...
Read more

Hanging tomatoes not so sweet afterall

-
Image
Spring arrived and she couldn't wait to plant grape tomatoes in my hanging garden. We excitedly checked the plants daily until the small green tomatoes formed from the tiny yellow flowers. Green Beans that were planted at the base came early. We ate them raw. We steamed them. This was great! So the day finally arrived where the very first grape tomato was ready and Brielle had the honors. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite what she expected. Her face and mouth screnched up in horror at the taste. "I don't like grape tomatoes", she said. And promptly, in a very unlady like gesture, spit it out. But she still loves to pick them. And the early girls too.
Read more

TaoSpring - pallet chicken coop

-
Image
I had less than a month to build a suitable coop and chicken run. I had very little money to work with. Having seen many coops and out buildings that people have assembled using scrap pallets, I thought that I would give it a try. Starting with two 4 x 8 pallets as the floor, I assembled all the available pallets that I could find. This is the frame of the coop. It will measure approximately 8ft x 8ft. Saltbox style roof will be 9 feet at the front and will taper down to 8 1/4 feet in the back. My inspiration is drawn from the bottom photo   seen here. I varied the plans to accommodate the unevenness of available pallet size. In a perfect world a 4' x 4' pallet would make pallet building as easy as playing with Lego's. Unfortunately downsizing has effected everything. Most pallets now measure 48" x 40" and the solid 4' by 4' pallets are usually reclaimed by their owners. Oh, they're out there, but I am looking to build for as...
Read more