Walking the neighbourhood

Hope you’ve been having fun reading your neighbours’ personalities spread before you in their front gardens as you take your daily stroll. Here is the last installment. You are on your own after this.

Young, left wing, ?students. These share houses are easy to spot. Bike or two parked randomly. “No junk mail” notice on mail box. Front yard totally bereft of vegetation or possibly one huge neglected mature tree hung with a faded string of Buddhist prayer flags. Front gate swinging wide open. Sagging sofa on front porch. Often found in inner urban terraces.

Good citizens. Order is the rule here. The footpath out the front is always swept clean. The nature strip is neatly mown. Their trees never overhang the neighbour’s fence. Maintenance is important to these people: the letterbox never swings from one hinge, the tap never drips. In early December, the same string of coloured lights is regularly hung in the tree near the front gate. On garbage day, the bins are whisked back in barely before the truck has left the street. These people are useful. Follow their lead and you’ll never miss another council clean-up day.

Generous, friendly. They give and they receive…never refuse the offer of a cutting. Consequently everything’s given ground space, whether or not there’s really room. They rarely prune because they can’t bear to hurt the plant. They know the pedigree of each plant in the yard. “Auntie Maud brought that back from Mexico in a dirty sock”. Their neighbours often find a surprise gift of a few limes, or a bunch of daisies on the front step. They will probably greet you, a total stranger, cheerfully as you pass.

April 2019