[Theophilus]

Sometimes I wish I had a happy neighbor like you so that my kids could see the kind of life my wife and I sacrifice every day to have them, and also to learn some lessons of the kind that people with your unfrazzled, mature and pensive perspective and lifestyle can teach kids. Ranging from let me teach you how to whittle, throw a ball, mow a lawn properly for profit, or even just: "get he h@ll off my lawn" (appropriate proprietary boundaries) LOL.

[OldPossum]

Why, thank you very much. That was such a nice compliment. I do try to keep an even temperament (at age 65 if I'm not mature I never will be) and would not even think about yelling at a child.

In turn, I would like neighbors such as you and your family. I live in a very, very rural area of 23 acres with very few people around. But this is what my wife and I sought out when we chose our retirement spot. We bought the land way back in 1972 (at a low, low price) and just hung on to it, and when it came time to retire, we had a house built on it.