Meet the Neighbors

I took a walk this morning around the 'hood, the new neighborhood I've moved into in San Jose. The neighborhood is called "Willow Glen", although there are not any "willows" to be found, at least none that I have seen. I have seen occasional willow trees in the Bay Area, but I don't think willows are native to California. The only ones I've ever seen have been planted in city parks.

I woke up when the sun came up this morning, so I headed out for an early morning walk. It is very interesting to see people in the neighborhood who are out and about in the early morning, jogging, walking the dog, starting their cars, picking up the newspaper, checking on the weather...I had a chance to smile and say "hello" to many a fellow Willow Glennite. People were so friendly that it put a smile on my face and a spring in my step.

When I got to the "downtown" area of Willow Glen, I stopped in at Starbucks. Having thrown on sweats in a hurry after tossing back the covers, I had no cash with me, but the very nice people behind the counter at Starbucks made my regular Chai Tea Latte for me on a drink-now-pay-later basis. Nice. Downright neighborly in fact.

Yesterday, I had a terrible morning. I locked myself out of the house, dressed in nothing but sweat pants, a tee shirt and flip-flops in 50 degree weather. However, my predicament gave me a great excuse to get to know my neighbor across the street, Barry. When I was at my dad's house in Connecticut over the holidays, I also managed to lock myself out (I think I need fingerprint ID access; it would be pretty hard to lose my fingers) and met one of my dad's neighbors, Kevin, who lives a few houses down the street. Kevin and his family have lived just down the street from my dad for 13 years, but my dad has never met him. (I met Kevin's wife a few weeks later, when I needed to borrow a flashlight one wintry night...but that is another story.)

Laptops, the internet, email, cell phones - all of this modern technology is truly wonderful. It helps me stay in touch with my family and friends on the East Coast, across the ocean and on the other side of town. But I'll take an old fashioned walk around the neighborhood over a Facebook conversation any day.