N is for Neighbors; Near and Far

"Like a good neighbor, stay over there"

        All my life I’ve had neighbors. When I was a child, our neighborhood was very close knit and holidays like the 4^th of July were always huge events that brought everyone together. The adults bbq’d and lit of fireworks and the kids ran around in the dim evening light with sparklers. In my memory, it is very picturesque and quaint.

   

   Even when I lived outside of a small town in Alaska, I still had dozens of neighbors living close. Now, we live in a tiny community, one of many, strung out along the 178. And we still have a lot of neighbors. We get along with all of them, fortunately. (kids playing outside in yard)

     Unfortunately there are a lot of girls around but not many boys in the area for my sons to play with. Nor are there many girls close to my daughter’s age.

    I’ve made friends and acquaintances up here, who I consider long distance neighbors. They all live 10-30 minutes away from me. For the most part, everyone has a very community-based mentality and it makes it easy for the valley to sometimes feel like one giant neighborhood.

         There are numerous Facebook sites that allow people to stay in contact in a way that would not have been possible before. People can post about vandalism or thefts, as well as inform others of community activities going on.