The Neighbor of the Year Award

Only once before have I seen something similar in real life. That was years and years ago when I visited a friend for the summer in the English countryside.  But this was not England! And it was real life!

Although one might say that the house and the yard could have easily been transported from a different world or at least a different continent.  

The cascading river of blooms stretched across the side of the house…. It turns out BOTH sides of the house. The front was manicured to such intricate details that not even English countryside could match.

I want THESE people to be my neighbors! We blurted at the same time and laughed at our unanimous choice of the Neighbor of the Year award.

They must have yard service, this is impossible... Imagine how much it would cost...

But, the more I looked at it… the more I knew it takes more than yard service to have such garden in Florida. I shook my head…

This is not a work of a hired hand… I don’t think you can pay somebody to do this.  This is a work of a lover…Everything here shows that the secret ingredient for this amazing garden is love… Imagine the knowledge, the time, the attention to detail, the careful planning, the meticulous execution…. This yard throbs with passion….Only love can do something like this...

Without saying a word, we know we just don’t have it.  

Not that much love. 

Not that much passion... at least not for blooming perennials. 

It's bitter-sweet concession....

Never can, never will... 

and in the middle of it, something begins to dawn on me… like the first wisp of sunlight on the east horizon…

I look at her, my walking partner through thick and thin...  I think of all we’ve been through, joking at times that we are dead women walking... and I see her in this moment as if for the very first time… 

Just this morning she was standing outsides my house patiently waiting for me to get ready for our walk and I marvel at how blind and stupid I can been…

You know, I tell her, I already have the best neighbor in the world. I wouldn’t want any other one…