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I live north of town about six miles and am powered by Southwest electric Coop. We didn't have power for a week. When I worried about my pipes freezing when my house fell to 37F with zero temps. predicted, my neighbors shared their portable propane heaters with me and stationed them strategically in my house. It got the temp. up to 72F. My house was saved from internal plumbing damage by my neighbors. Because my immediate neighbors have a business salting and sanding roads and private enterprises, they stayed in Springfield with their salt truck and asked me to stay in their home and keep the propane going and also manually pump their sump pump as their basement had some flooding which got into a bedroom and some of the tornado shelter. I literally hooked the sump to a car battery and then attached the lead to the node to make the pump work and I had to do it every two hours to prevent overflow. I stayed at their house for three days as someone had to be physically present while they were gone or they'd flood and paid mine a quick visit in the mornings to check the propane heaters and feed my cats.
Although I spent a lot of time at my neighbor's house, I didn't once stray into areas of his house that I wasn't designated to enter. I never went past the dining room, never into any of the bedrooms other than the one in the basement that has the door leading to the sump pump as that's where the water was coming in, I never looked through their things lying around, I didn't use any but the guest bathroom, I stayed out of the cupboards, only looked through Kitchen drawers looking for a bowl and a spoon for cereal which I brought, and no doing anything I wouldn't want people doing in my home. I RESPECT my neighbors!
I also left my home UNLOCKED because the weather was so dangerous and phone communication so spotty with no power to recharge cells (and mine was knocked out part of the time). I left my home unlocked so neighbors could get inside if they needed to for whatever reason. I left diamond rings lying on the dresser and didn't hide anything. I didn't worry about it. Another neighbor brought us a generator he wasn't using so we could get the pellet stove going and also hook the sump to it. It was a huge relief and comfort.
On top of that, all of us...all my neighbors, live on land with a minimum of three acres. I've got 4.3 acres. Our trees and fences are decimated. My neighbor whose house I stayed at had real damage to almost everything including his garages where a tree had sliced into one. Guess who wanted me to get my property cleared first? That neighbor.
Here's a photo of the debris after the storm in my front acreage looking from the house down the driveway to the road. This is a before cleanup shot with the trees iced.
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r199/MoMark/IcestormFmyyard.jpg (broken link)
This is a shot of the same land after yesterday's cleanup where two neighbors and two hired teenage boys who wanted to work for $10/hr helped me yesterday for six hours. That pile of ashes is all that's left:
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r199/MoMark/icestormCleanup1.jpg (broken link)
Here's a pic I took at the beginning Saturday around 10AM. It was 33F with an arctic north wind blowing at 20mph. It was terribly cold. The man in red is the neighbor whose house I watched over and guarded. The boy in the middle is a neighbor's son down the road who worked his 18 yr. old butt off even though he has bad bronchitus and we worried about him.
http://i144.photobucket.com/albums/r199/MoMark/cleanupJan07a.jpg (broken link)
That fire was in its infancy stages in that photo above. We burned literally two large semis packed to the top of wood..the limbs so large we had to drag them with a Dixie hauler and chain to the fire, then saw them up into pieces we could pick up and throw into the fire. MY NEIGHBORS WANT NO MONEY AND DEVOTED THEIR TIME TO SWEAT AND EXHAUST THEMSELVES HELPING ****ME****!!!!!! Where else in this country do people behave like this and expect nothing other than reciprical treatment as extended family?
I'm from California originally by way of Las Vegas and have only lived here ONE year, yet they treat me like I'm born here and family. I will do anything, anything to help my neighbors. I had to go into the house briefly yesterday to cry as I was so overwhelmed by their selflessness.
So Springfield isn't perfect, but I'll tell you, my eyes are watering up right now with heartfelt gratitude for what these people did and are doing for me. I can't thank God enough.
It's wonderful when folks are so decent (an undervalued word) and I am so glad you had the kind of support you did. I only wish I had that wood because it is so cold here tonight.
But, I must say my neighbour is one terrific guy. He is always helping me out, bringing me stuff, cleaning and shoveling snow, and coming to my rescue with frozen pipes.
Yes, there is something to be said for a good neighbour and we have to feel blessed when we have them!
This is a great way to pay tribute to neighbors such as yours..
For me of late, it was my neighbor across the street.. I'm.. shy so we've hardly spoken in the ten years I've been here.. Thrown a friendly wave here and there, but that is pretty much it..
A few weeks ago, he stopped me and asked if I wanted help with a huge tree that had fallen.. He said he'd come by some weekend and work on it..
By golly, one afternoon I hear a chainsaw in the background and there he is going to.. He came back with a friend of his a few weekends later and finished up in the same manner..
Above and beyond that it would have taken me several years of plugging away at that tree with my electric chainsaw was that..
He asked first..
He respected my boundaries, and that's huge.. And he didn't do it for any reason than to help out a neighbor in need..
Speaking of, time to head back out the door to grab another chunk of wood to toasty up this old house, not to mention send yet another silent, "I'm forever grateful, couldn't have done it without you, 'T'.." his way..
I have a lot of good neighbors, but one of them is a crazy old guy who is still mad at the japanese for WW2. I should tape him ranting and put it on youtube someday.
I'm so glad you have such good neighbors you can rely on, MoMark! You're extremely fortunate, as you know. It's so touching that they were so willing to help you, and it's nice that you respected their house as well.
Although I live in an apartment building, there is a woman across the way who has been an excellent friend to me for the past ten years. She drove my kids to high school every day for years without expecting anything in return, even though I offered to at least pay her for the gas used. She also kept an eye on my son and had him stay with her when my daughter and I had to go to Reno to testify in a trial. I would gladly reciprocate, but she has never asked me (she's also a divorced mom with two kids).
I'm so glad you have such good neighbors you can rely on, MoMark! You're extremely fortunate, as you know. It's so touching that they were so willing to help you, and it's nice that you respected their house as well.
Although I live in an apartment building, there is a woman across the way who has been an excellent friend to me for the past ten years. She drove my kids to high school every day for years without expecting anything in return, even though I offered to at least pay her for the gas used. She also kept an eye on my son and had him stay with her when my daughter and I had to go to Reno to testify in a trial. I would gladly reciprocate, but she has never asked me (she's also a divorced mom with two kids).
I am so blessed Sandy!! The guy in red, Larry, is 64 years old with bad knees who's had heart surgery before and is borderline diabetic. He's only two years younger than my own dad. Yet he is like the energizer bunny and goes on and on. Six hours though took a toll on him yesterday in that frigid cold along with the backbreaking work. My two neighbors with chainsaws wouldn't allow me to use them because I have no experience with them and you can cut an arm or leg off in a heartbeat if you get careless or misjudge a cut. I felt guilty about that, but understood their reasoning.
By 4pm Larry was looking haggard, walking with difficulty, very slowly, and I knew he was downright exhausted. I asked him if I could swing by in an hour with a bottle of wine and he said "Sure!".
So I came by after an hour with a bottle of Kendall-Jackson Cabernet Sauvignon 1999 and had already prepped the cork at home. I sat with them drinking the wine for a couple of hours and I could really see what working on my property did to him. He was exhausted. It's hard to put into words the gratitude one feels for such selflessness from others. You can only thank them so much before they get embarrassed and you become a nuisance.
His property is truly wrecked. I mean it's three times as bad as mine, yet he insisted on getting mine started first. With his there are things we won't be able to do ourselves like remove giant rootballs from fallen trees. I know he's overwhelmed by the damage to his own property and he's anal about his home and land. They hold annual garden parties there and it looks Disneyland groomed, perfect really. Now it looks like a tornado went through and I know he's lost sleep over it while trying to find a bright silver lining. The pace of cleanup at my place is giving him encouragement and we're only half done at my home. We should finish Tuesday and it's predicted to be 26F for a high with snow. I dread working in the cold, but...that's the breaks.
They profusely thanked ME for watching their home and making sure everything worked regarding the sump and keeping the house warmed and their animals fed. I feel it's such a small trade for what they've done for me. I guess it's in the eyes of the receiver.
In any event. I'm extremely, extremely fortunate.
I truly wish I had neighbors like yours, Mark! Here in "keeping up with the Jones's" suburbia, most of those in my isolated housing development of 31 homes don't even know each other's first names! When I canvassed the neighborhood to solicit donations for my team on the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" two years ago, I had two neighbors initially refuse to give me any money and then leaving me a check in my mailbox a day later after they "found out who I was" from other neighbors to whom they were acquainted with! When our HOA had to convene to try to protect our investments when a new shopping center's plans were encroaching on our backyards, I was shocked and dismayed to hear so many "What's your name again?" and "Do you live in the development?" THIS is the exact reason why I'm fleeing this cul-de-sac hell and heading right into the hustle and bustle of Scranton to raise my family. I actually want to have the opportunity to host an occasional backyard neighborhood barbecue mixer, chat over the backyard fence, people-watch from the front porch, take neighborhood kids, along with my own, to the Nay Aug Park pool or out for mini-golf or ice cream, etc. Here in the "Rat Race" people are more concerned with upstaging each other's new lawn ornament (or even hood ornanment), to give a damn about anyone else but themselves! I'm not that type of "fake" person, and I don't want my children to grow up that way either.
MoMark, I'd love to live amongst good neighbors like your own! At least you know each other's names! LOL! I just greeted a neighbor of mine while working at Lowe's the other day, and they looked at me like I had two heads until I went on a big rant about how they knew me and how I knew them!
Last edited by SteelCityRising; 01-28-2007 at 07:28 PM..
Reason: Typo
I truly wish I had neighbors like yours, Mark! Here in "keeping up with the Jones's" suburbia, most of those in my isolated housing development of 31 homes don't even know each other's first names! When I canvassed the neighborhood to solicit donations for my team on the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" two years ago, I had two neighbors initially refuse to give me any money and then leaving me a check in my mailbox a day later after they "found out who I was" from other neighbors to whom they were acquainted with! When our HOA had to convene to try to protect our investments when a new shopping center's plans were encroaching on our backyards, I was shocked and dismayed to hear so many "What's your name again?" and "Do you live in the development?" THIS is the exact reason why I'm fleeing this cul-de-sac hell and heading right into the hustle and bustle of Scranton to raise my family. I actually want to have the opportunity to host an occasional backyard neighborhood barbecue mixer, chat over the backyard fence, people-watch from the front porch, take neighborhood kids, along with my own, to the Nay Aug Park pool or out for mini-golf or ice cream, etc. Here in the "Rat Race" people are more concerned with upstaging each other's new lawn ornament (or even hood ornanment), to give a damn about anyone else but themselves! I'm not that type of "fake" person, and I don't want my children to grow up that way either.
MoMark, I'd love to live amongst good neighbors like your own! At least you know each other's names! LOL! I just greeted a neighbor of mine while working at Lowe's the other day, and they looked at me like I had two heads until I went on a big rant about how they knew me and how I knew them!
I feel like I was placed here by divine assistance sometimes ScrantonWilkesBarre! I am thankful every day!
P.S. I tried to give you a positive reputation boost, MoMark, because I was floored by how grateful you seem to be at a time when most people I know take their blessings for granted, but it told me I had to "spread it around." Can someone from the powers that be, called the "moderators", explain to me why you limit our ability to award positive reputation points, even when we deem them to be warranted?
Last edited by SteelCityRising; 01-28-2007 at 08:21 PM..
Reason: ANOTHER Typo! I Type WAY Too Quickly! ;o)
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because it is so cold here tonight.
She drove my kids to high school every day for years without expecting anything in return, even though I offered to at least pay her for the gas used. She also kept an eye on my son and had him stay with her when my daughter and I had to go to Reno to testify in a trial. I would gladly reciprocate, but she has never asked me (she's also a divorced mom with two kids).
When I canvassed the neighborhood to solicit donations for my team on the American Cancer Society's "Relay for Life" two years ago, I had two neighbors initially refuse to give me any money and then leaving me a check in my mailbox a day later after they "found out who I was" from other neighbors to whom they were acquainted with! 
When our HOA had to convene to try to protect our investments when a new shopping center's plans were encroaching on our backyards, I was shocked and dismayed to hear so many "What's your name again?" and "Do you live in the development?" 
