Good times with the neighbors

On Friday night a major storm came through and took down a large section of one of the trees near our house (the limb was a good 10 inches in diameter, plus all the branches, and long enough to stretch all the way across the street). So at 11:00 at night, we had 12 people from the block using 2 machetes and a handsaw to clear the tree from the road. It was a really great time to interact with neighbors and to meet a few new ones. Plus there was discussion with some of the ladies about wanting to revive the old block club. Fortunately, no one was hurt and it left only a few very small dents in the one car it hit. Several other cars around the corner were not so lucky, though.

We’ve also had more interaction with D, the kid from down the street. We met his dad recently. D’s been over riding bikes with Dave and stops by our house every couple days. Yesterday he came by and had dinner with us. We called another neighbor who came over with her daughter to join us. Good times.

I think we’ll see a lot of D this summer. We’re glad to be two more adults with a positive role in his life, but we also realized last night that we’re going to have to work hard to get the right balance loving on him and setting boundaries and being firm with him. I think I also need to adjust the amount of food I have on hand for snacks and meals!