This may be silly to write about, but our neighbor is the sweetest little man you would ever meet. He actually lives just across the street, and he actually moved there once we bought Novelyn Knoll, because he lived in it before we bought it…. for 11 years…. 2 of which were without plumbing!! Yes, Bilbo is quite a character to say the least!
He shouts out “good to see you” to us every chance he gets. He’s always out in the yard doing some form of yard work. He even offered to do our yard work for us, because he says it keeps him in shape. What a sweet soul!
Bilbo walks everywhere…he doesn’t have a car… so we will see him walking around town routinely. He says he enjoys the exercise, so we leave him alone. He also has a cat that he inherited when he moved into his new home. He has explained to me before that the cat will always try to follow him whenever he walks away. So, Bilbo has to try to trick the cat into thinking he’s not going anywhere. I was able to witness the distraction process late yesterday afternoon and it was more than entertaining!
First Bilbo tried to feed the cat some food in his yard and then while the cat was eating it, he slipped away into the street to start his journey. He has a hunched back and a crooked walk, but was still attempting to tiptoe away, if you can imagine that. He kept stopping every so often to look back and make sure the cat was still distracted, and it was. Once Bilbo was out of sight, I caught a glimpse of the cat taking off down the road, and then a few minutes later, Bilbo reappeared. At this point, he grabbed his rake and began raking leaves in his yard and looking over his shoulder to see if the cat was distracted. Either the cat didn’t buy it, or Bilbo forgot that he was only distracting the cat, because he continued raking leaves for about an hour or so…and then it was dark. I have no idea what happened after that. Haha!
When Bilbo first moved across the street, I told him how glad I was that he was going to be able to stay around and be our neighbor. He said he was very excited too, and he also expressed some relief because he would now be able to continue checking on the elderly woman next door. Every morning after breakfast, he walks over to her house, and knocks at the door. He waits until he hears her call out to him, and then says, “Okay, I was just checking on you.” What a heart of gold!
There are few things in life more precious than watching someone care so whole-heartedly for others, whether it’s a pet or a person next door. I would not choose another neighbor for the world!!!
My "Gathered" Thoughts 