This past weekend my husband and I were chatting on the patio. Talking about this and that. And the conversation veered toward that hot topic that comes up now and again.
Where will we live next? Where should we buy a house? Texas? California? East Coast?
Not owning a place in our home country causes us a bit of agita when we get thinking about it. We try to keep the heartburn at bay by thinking about the insurance, taxes, maintenance, etc. that we would pay in absentia.
But we lobbed the pros and cons back and forth across the table just the same.
Texas makes the most sense. California beckons.
He says, “I’m going to call Jim.”
This is after we reminisced about our place in Dana Point, California and our beloved neighbor Jim.
We did a bit of googling also.
Husband says there’s a house for sale on our old street. It looked like Jim’s.
Jim had been talking about downsizing in the past. He has another place in Arizona.
If we bought Jim’s place it would be in absolute pristine condition because he is a bit of a neatnik and a fanatic about everything being just so. Maybe that’s a Scottish thing.
If it wasn’t Jim’s place for sale then we’d have him as a neighbor again and that would be even better.
He ended up sending Jim an email telling him that we were reminiscing about our fabulous neighbors.
In the evening my husband said, “Jim hasn’t replied to my email.”
It just so happened that Jim had been on my mind all week.
My neighbor Nancy, here in Malaysia, had a rat in her kitchen the previous Saturday. She called me. And I ran over to her place. Not knowing what I would or could do. Laugh out loud.
When we lived in Dana Point, the city had cleared an embankment of brush to avoid the infamous California wildfires. It resulted in roof rats/Norwegian rats losing their stomping grounds.
Yup, we soon had those furry visitors in the attic. And Jim was my man. The neighbor I called. My go to guy.
And he always responded promptly.
My first thought? He was most likely visiting family or spending the weekend in Arizona.
Second thought? Jim is going to be absolutely thrilled that we are even considering buying a place in Southern California.
Good neighbors are a true blessing. And even better if they are your friends.
Just Being Mary 