Neighbors

Good fences make good neighbors. But so do Christmas presents.

How well do you know your neighbors? Every December, I'm the one designated from my family to send over a Christmas treat to the neighbors on either side of us, and directly across the street from us. It's not my favorite thing to go out into the cold and deliver these goodies to practical strangers. But after I do, I realize that it was a neat opportunity to get to know them a little bit better, even if it was just a simple "Merry Christmas."

Each of our neighbors are very different. One family is a mixed marriage family (guess that's not too uncommon anymore; probably the norm, actually), and the dad plays his drums often at night. They attend a church that plays rock music during the services; pretty hardcore method of worship, wouldn't ya say?

One family is Indian. They keep to themselves mostly, but are friendly. They gave us some baklava. It's really good stuff.

And then the other neighbors are very talkative, especially the woman. She lets me come in and talks my ear off about how awesome her kids are and how awesome she is.

Neighbors are cool. Your neighbors are different than you. Get to know them. Here's a challenge: if you haven't done so already, go visit your neighbors this season and get to know them better.