Blue Flowers

I have backyard neighbors for the first real time in my life. And by backyard "neighbors" I mean backyard "roomates." We both have split-level houses with small backyards. Our main floor windows look into their windows. We can see into each other's backyards when we come out of our own houses. I'm not really sure what the best course of action is. I've come up with two options.

I could go over and introduce myself and become super good friends with them and get invited to all of their children's dance recitals and birthday parties and summer time barbecues with watermelon and probably a slip-n-slide and eventually put a gate between our yards so our children can enjoy a mutual friendship built on joy and popsicles. I'm worried that my level of productivity will go down though if I have to talk to them every time I go into my backyard. I've thought about having to sneak around from the front yard if I really need to get something done in a crunch. And also about how awkward it would be when they hear me telling my children to "Stop breathing all over everything" (because they like to get really, really close to cookies when they look at them) or when I come out in the morning with crazy hair wearing that awful shirt that was never intended for viewing by another living creature and I look out the window and they are standing on their deck just staring...


I could ignore them. We could stay strangers. I could avoid going outside while they are out there for at least 4 months. I mean, you can't just start talking to someone after that long. I could doom myself to a life of purchasing new balls and frisbees every time they go over the fence just because I live under the assumption that it might be possible that my neighbors will hate me.

I've kind of just been waiting to decide where to go with this one. Until 3 days ago. Their daughter was jumping on the trampoline singing made up words, and my daughter was dancing in the window.... in her underwear. They were pretty much friends in an instant. So we took them some cookies and got all chatty and learned each other's names and stuff. And I'm super glad I did because they actually don't hate me. Which was nice to know the next day when I was outside and heard my oldest child yell, "Mom!! My sister is naked!!" and looked up and saw that first -- he was right and second -- my neighbors were laughing.

I guess there is a third option after all. I could plant a wall of bamboo between our houses and pretend to be amazed that it got so tall.

 

PS -- In case you are wondering, I used a 4 leaf clover cutter to make these cookies. I just pinched off the stem part before baking.

PPS -- I don't think these are real flowers. (I mean, obviously they aren't. They are cookies. I just don't think there is a real flower on the planet that they resemble.)  I made them for my son's teacher. Her favorite color is blue and I could not force myself to make another 6 or 5 petaled flower cookie this spring.