Young, But Not So Innocent

The Saturday after we bought the lot, we took Carol's folks by for a quick look. We parked on a drive across the street, where I began to befriend an 8 year-old neighbor boy, Nick. Nick seemed nice enough to start with. I stopped by and introduced myself to his mom, and let her know about the noise, and mess we were preparing to make just across the street. I also obtained her permission to park where we were.

After walking the lot with Pat and Phil, we began to drive off, when I caught a glimpse of Nick in the side-view mirror, running towards the car and waiving his hands in the air. So, I stopped, and rolled down my window to see what he wanted. "Ya know", Nick began, slowly waiving an out-stretched arm over the entire visible landscape, "You have to pay to be on this land. And I don't have much money, so you have to pay me." Eight-years-old mind you! Still startled by this brazen little feller, I told him he could continue to play over there for a little while, and I would continue to park here for free. Dejected in the knowledge he was not going to get any money from these two cheapskates, Nick turned and slowly walked back to his house, hanging his extortion-minded head as he went.

The very next morning, there were two "Welcome To the Neighborhood" signs--one on either side of their drive. Okay, so they said NO TRESPASSING. Looks like we've already started some history with the neighbors. I'm sure there will be more posts about neighbor relations in the future. Stay tuned.