Base living is also the best because our neighbors are the best (how many times will I type "best" in this blog post?). Not everyone living on base loves their street or their neighbors as much as we love ours, so I'm extra thankful for our current situation. Base life feels like a throwback to a few decades ago, kind of like "Pleasantville" (without the weirdness), or how I imagine life in a European village (I could be way off on that one).
For example:
--Before Chet left for work, he informed me our next-door-neighbor (and Chet's boss) was going to put his trash in our trash can, because he's headed out of town this weekend. No problem -- still trying to figure out why Chet even felt the need to tell me, since I wouldn't have given any of our neighbors a second glance if I happened to see them putting their trash in our can.
--Around 10 a.m., Ford disappeared across the street to play with his best friend, and Ford's best friend's brother made his way to our house to trade Pokemon cards with Sydney and Lorelei. They didn't make a peep for an hour.
--Just before 11 a.m., Sydney, Lorelei, Ford's best friend's brother, and I rode across the base to drop Sydney and Lorelei off at piano (normally Sydney and Lorelei ride their bikes to piano alone -- but it was a nice morning, and I felt like going on a little bike ride). Ford's best friend's brother and I rode back to our neighborhood; we even had a little race. (Ford was at his best friend's house while all this was happening.)
--At 11:45 a.m., Ford's best friend's mom came over and gave me her opinion on which throw pillow I should buy from the Pottery Barn online sale.
--At noon I rode my bike to the Child Development Center to pick up Ruthie. Ford stayed with his best friend, and Sydney and Lorelei were in the process of making it back home from piano. When Ruthie and I returned home from the CDC, there were five children on my lawn (only one was mine).
--Around 1:30 p.m., a new neighbor knocked on my door and returned my mail key (Sydney and Lorelei retrieved the mail an hour earlier and must have been excited by what was in the box, because they left the key dangling from the lock).
All this to say that I highly recommend base living. There are definitely non-base neighborhoods that are like this, but they're harder to find. We found one in northern Virginia, but the people in our Austin neighborhood kept to themselves.
I hope your weekend is full of fellowship with friends (who may or may not be neighbors), or a break from interacting with people -- whatever you prefer!
Our front porch; while base houses all tend to look the same, the American flags flying from the front porches make the monotony worthwhile:
Ford and his BFF:
How Ruthie and I ride around base:
A couple of weeks ago, we ended up feeding dinner to three extra children:
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