Friday, July 30, 2010

One Question Friday
















Every Friday I’m going to ask a question. The questions I choose might be ambiguous on purpose. The goal is to have you answer the question according to your beliefs, where you’re at in life or a circumstance that might have recently impacted you. The only thing I ask is that you provide an explanation for why you answered the way you did.


It is my hope to understand you better through this and also to gain a greater understanding of humanity and how people make decisions.



Who are the people in your neighborhood?







*photos by flickr

35 comments:

  1. Love the gorilla! Wish he was in my neighborhood!LOL!

    In my gated community neighborhood there is a mix of loving and caring people and then there are those who seem angry and lonely all the time. There are those who "stick to the rules" and help others and those who defy the rules of community living and wouldn't give you a second look if you needed help.

    Are these neighbors the same everywhere?

    One thing is for sure, it makes for interesting character studies and conflicts for my story writing!

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  2. I have a lot of dog walkers in my neighborhood. Though I only know a few older ladies personally, one thing I like is that everyone waves when you're driving down the road. Even though I'm not really connected to my neighbors, I have a feeling there's a close neighborhood circle going on since many of them have lived here a long time.

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  3. I've been thinking a lot about what "neighbor" means to me lately. A mission trip can do that to you. I went to West Virginia last week, and am planning a trip to Haiti next summer. I must say, to me, the people in my "neighborhood" are American, Haitian, European, South American, African, etc. Our neighbors are everywhere and I wish I could meet them all.

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  4. I have older people in my neighborhood. Younger people. Families. Children. The strange people who live at the end of the street. Friendly people and not-so-friendly people. And yet we all seem to get along in our own way. We're all there for each other. And that's nice.

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  5. I am fortunate enough to live in the neighborhood I grew up in and my children attend the same grade school. We refer to houses as the original owners. Our family was one of the first in the hood as the Church and school were built so I love being back in the midst of my roots. My kids play in the same creek with many neighbors who go to the same school and with some children of the original families like us.

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  6. My family! Not only because, literally I live out in the county and my family are the closest houses around. And also because my family are the closest friends I have--neighbors in my heart!

    Good question.

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  7. I love Mr. Rogers. His autobiography is stellar writing, too. Made me want to do flips!

    We have only seven families in our neighborhood: us with our empty nest, four families with older kids still at home, and two families with small children.

    Lots of dogs, cats, and chickens, but no gorillas!

    Happy Weekend, dear.

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  8. My neighbors are not too close, but at least I know who they are. At my old house, I lived there for over 4 years before I met the wife that lived right next door. :O)

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  9. One question Fridays ROCK!
    Retirees, teachers, artists, kids, dogs, cats, architects, counselors. People who smile when I stand at their door with a big pot of gumbo, then dash to their kitchen and bring back a big bowl.
    People who reciprocate when THEY cook up specialties!!

    LOVE MY NORMAL!!!

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  10. Retirees, young families, and single twenty-somethings. It's a fun place to live!

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  11. I LOVE Mr. Rogers. I have since I was a child, then felt especially blessed that we share a birthday. :)

    My neighborhood - working moms. In our subdivision, I'm the only stay-at-home mom for miles it seems.

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  12. We live in a group of 4 high rise buildings which are home to retired and semi-retired folks with only a few younger ones. Many travel now and are not here for about 4 months of the year. Many of us still work and only see each other coming and going or at the mailboxes. There are a lot of small groups that have formed to coordinate like minded leisure pursuits - cards, Bible studies, hymn sing, exercise etc.

    But there is only one in the building with whom I've been able to connect on a deeper level and that probably says more about me than about others. Folks don't 'connect' with each other the way I recall we did as young moms raising our children and meeting at a different home for coffee, or at the pool, or the park. Times have changed and I miss the deeper connections with people.

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  13. This makes me think of John Donne's Meditation 17. (When I catch up on my sleep, I'll blog about it.) If I look at this literally, I think about the people who live in my circle, just one street. I don't really know most of them, but my mother lives here, just a few houses down. I am so blessed to have her here. The St. Johns River is here, and it is full of alligators and other critters. It's a unique neighborhood: a little swamp and a whole lot of love.

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  14. I'm just getting to know my neighborhood--I'm slow to make friends :) We've got families and singles and some very young couples. We've got a daycare just across the entryway to our complex and we've got children running and playing all the time, bringing joy and sometimes just noise :D to the morning.

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  15. I live next to my in-laws! They're ok ;) My neighborhood is mostly retired folks (my kids hate that!) But there are some nice older folks around here. We're the noise makers in the bunch. We keep the 'hood on its toes.

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  16. I was just talking with someone about my neighborhood this morning...about the fact that I LOVE its diversity. We have all races and ethnicities represented, and I'm so glad my children will get to experience the richness that comes along with that.

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  17. Those in my surroundings are usually nice. There's a couple of those around my neighborhood who are disrespectful (not my neighbors). They're children who swear like sailors even though their parents raised them better.

    But again it's life. Apparently I have sailors where I am.

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  18. Actually, my closest friends happen to be my actual neighbors. :)

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  19. My neighborhood is mostly families with young kids, which is nice, except when you need a parking spot at the pool ;)

    For the most part, my neighbors are kind, selfless, and respectful people. I feel like that's how a lot of people in this neck of the woods of Georgia are...and I love that.

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  20. runners, bikers, nature lovers....tree huggers...kind and friendly people...

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  21. Wendy, your question really got me thinking...I've even blogged about it. You can check it out when you have time. =)

    But to answer your question here in a shorter version. I used to know everyone in the small town I grew up in. I now live in a very large city and my neighborhood consists of elderly couples, families, singles, students, restaurants, and coffee shops...my neighbors are those that live in my apartment complex whom are mainly missionaries...expect for the Taiwanese family across the hall...they own a wonderful noodle shop in the 'hood.

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  22. Hi Wendy -

    I'm blessed with a neighbor, who mows my lawn in the summer and shovels snow in the winter. Another neighbor and I share gardening tips and extra produce. I live in a neighborhood of caring, warm people.

    Blessings,
    Susan :)

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  23. I live away from the city, where houses are spread out. Outgoing me makes it a point to meet our neighbors, but we only talk to a couple of them on a regular basis.

    This is about the only thing I miss about living in the city.

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  24. A woman next door whose husband left her when the market crashed. She mows her own lawn herself with a push mower--one acre in the hot Florida sunshine and my husband builds her birds things to play on:) We take care of each other.

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  25. The people in my neighborhood are frenetic workers: retired in one career and start-ups in another. Three and four income households (including retirement pay), who are too busy working to keep up with the Jones. They honk if you wait too long at a light and shift their weight impatiently waiting in line. They over-volunteer and then complain about how busy it is.

    But they walk their dogs at night and always have time to smile then.

    Just thinking about them makes me feel tired. And poor.

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  26. I would like to invite you to visit my blog. I would love to get your comments on some of my recent posts.

    http://alonganarrowway.blogspot.com

    God Bless!

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  27. I live around a bunch of other college students, apartments that look better than mine, and a string of fast food joints. Apparently, I also live around some crime as I saw a man being held down to the sidewalk by a policeman on the main road outside my apartment. That was scary. Hopefully by my senior year, I will have saved enough money to afford a safer place to live. :)

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  28. The people in my neighborhood, hmm, who are they? Families, retired couples, some are active outdoorsy type, some are homebodies. Most are working still. The worst part is after 6 years here, I have few I would call friends.

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  29. what a great question. We're in a university town, so there are students everywhere from all over the US and the world. We love the diversity.

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  31. Excellent question. Some of our closest friends are in our neighborhood. Then there are the people who seem to want to wall the world out as much as possible. But when we took kids caroling at Christmastime, all the faces lit up when we came to their doors!

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  32. Wendy, my friend, feels like I haven't "seen" you in forever for some reason. Or "talked" to you! How are you?? Less than two months to the conference! Can't wait to meet you in person!

    In my neighborhood, I have a gabber. A chain-smoker. A boater/fisher always outside working on my yard guy. And a whole bunch of shoeless children who dart into the street so I must drive 1 mile an hour. :) Oh, and this adorable little freckle-faced girl with strawberry blonde hair who always calls out, "Scuze me! Scuze me! May I pet your puppy?" everytime I walk by with Bubba.

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  33. Mr. Rogers was my favorite when I was a kid.

    We moved to our neighborhood because it seemed like a nice place for a young family (lots of parks and walking paths), but for some reason we are the only family with little kids on the street. Everyone else has teenagers or no kids at all. So that's a little sad. But everyone is very nice.

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  34. What an awesome idea!!! So naturally I'm going to join in!

    I have a lot of retired couples and younger folks (like myself) in my neighborhood. I live above retail shops so everything is easy access which allows the "vacationers" aka retired folks to have everything right out the door, and us youngin's love to party and have two bars and restaurants within walking distance :)

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  35. My neighbours are wonderful! We moved into this home right before Christmas. I didn't like this home. I didn't want this home. It was my husband's choice and I pouted about it for a while. Since then, the home has really grown on me, but the first thing to crack the ice was our neighbours. All of them. We live on a cul-de-sac. Everyone was so kind and welcoming. It has been a joy to live here.

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