In Focus

What a busy weekend. It was one that wouldn’t have been possible without my amazing neighbors.

I found out there was going to be a light parade in July, and I was all over that! But I didn’t have a trailer or a power inverter. But...my neighbor did and drove a trailer for us in the parade. It was a big ask, but I think he had as much fun as we did.

The 12-foot skeleton came out to play for the Hewitt Holiday House float we were going to enter in the light parade. His head fell off when we lifted him up—that’s the first time that’s ever happened. His jaw broke and is in the process of being fixed.

Two of the neighbor’s kids dressed up in Halloween and Christmas attire and tossed out candy and glow sticks.

Even mom was up for the parade despite having her first chemotherapy appointment just hours earlier. She and Pepper rode on the float. It was a fun night!

We had our riding lawnmower break down, and despite a neighbor’s best efforts at fixing it, the mower is at the shop awaiting repairs. We used the push mower as long as we could before succumbing to exhaustion. Our neighbors picked up the slack for us as our push mower decided to die over the weekend. Both of our amazing next-door neighbors just appeared and mowed the lawn for us. 

The gardens are coming along nicely between the neighbor and I. I’m excited to see the new produce we’ve grown this year. I got a watermelon radish I had to sample over the weekend because it split. They are supposed to get the size of a football! We have ground cherries that are supposed to taste like pineapple vanilla, Asian long beans—think foot-long green beans—orange watermelon (orange on the inside), and of course, my black tomatoes. There is a variety of stuff planted everywhere between the gardens.

The rain is doing wonders—except for the cucumbers, they don’t like being constantly soaked. I am so thankful my neighbor loves to garden and can share in the space and the produce. 

I don’t know what I would do without these amazing neighbors and friends who help each other out. It makes for a great community and fun backyard bonfires!