“Good fences make good neighbors”

By Marty Coffin Evans

Robert Frost recognized this in his “Mending Wall” poem. Fences keep us out of others property, contain our “stuff” and sometimes just separate us from each other.

For four years, our neighbor, an early morning riser, threw the newspaper over the fence each day when she returned home from walking her dogs. That tradition just changed when she moved out of the area for a new job. I still look for that paper and realize she’s walking her dogs on different streets thousands of miles away from Boulder.

We would laugh that we’d lived some of life’s major changes side by side separated only by that fence. We looked out for each other, shared in watching our homes when one was away and picked up mail or papers as needed. That’s probably a pretty standard list for being a good neighbor. Children learn about being good neighbors when they water or mow lawns, shovel walks and help when asked.

We’re often tempted to find our childhood homes, which provide us with a quick trip down memory lane. We recall the playmates, their parents, and the especially nice neighbors. As adults, it may be interesting to see our old neighborhood and how someone’s redone our landscaping, remodeled or repainted our former home.

As the miles and years begin to separate us, good neighbor times remain ready for a quick reminiscence. Getting together helps us reconnect with times past as we reflect on both life’s changes and the joys experienced while being the best of neighbors.

“Multicolored Reflections,” April 2024