the neighbors from Mars, the neighbors from Venus

We finally had a big storm come through last night. I was delivering dinner to friends from church who just had their first baby (note: the last time I delivered dinner to another church friend, it also stormed). On my way home; the sky was very dark, trees were bent over from the wind and it was raining. Hard. I was a little scared, but the sky wasn't green, so I wasn't worried. (Does that make sense? Can you be scared, but not worried?) When I got home, I saw this
I called Bill to tell him the wind knocked down a branch, but the garage is still standing. It's a very strong (stubborn) garage. He told me to take photos. There may be a couple scratches on his car, it was too dark to tell when it finally stopped raining.

I was watching tv when the phone rang. It was Deborah, from next door. She asked if I had seen the branch, and I told her I had, and that I had taken photos but when I tried to move it I discovered it was stuck in the gutter. It's a big, heavy branch. Then I realized she was outside on the phone, so I told her I would come out.

She suggested I back the car out while she held the branch. Then, once the car was out of the way, we could move the branch. That was fine with me, so I got the keys. She was holding it and sort of moving it around. Then she said, maybe we should get Glenn (from across the street) since it was so big and heavy. I told her to go change her shirt (she had just gotten home from work and was still in nice clothes) before it got dirty and I would go get Glenn.

When we all gathered back around the tree and the car, Deborah shared her plan with Glenn. They both grabbed it and Glenn just started moving it. I helped by getting out of the way. They got it down on the ground without me having to move the car. (Do you get the title now? I'll explain it if I have to, but it's better if I don't.)

Now, staying with neighbors, I have to write about what happened Monday night while I was weeding. The neighbors to the other side are still working on their house. I was on that side weeding when Mandy walked by and we said hello to each other. When she came by the next time, I asked how things were going. She said they're making progress. Progress is good, I said.

They have a front window that is broken, so for whatever reason, I decided to ask her about that? And not in a casual, did anyone get hurt sort of way; but in an accusatory, are you going to get that fixed sort of way. Yes. That's what I asked, "Are you going to fix the front window?" She must have thought I was nutters. Of course what I really meant was, "are you going to replace it with a vinyl, less superior window, or replace the pane of glass?" She told me they were going to get new glass and then told me what happened. (We all have return air vents in the floors and theirs is covered up with a drop cloth. Well, whoever was standing on the ladder there by the window, forgot about the vent, and put their foot down into the vent, lost their balance and then fell into the window. No one was hurt, just the window.) I told her we've replaced glass and got it from Alger Hardware, they have everything over there. She said yeah, they'd probably get it from there. At this point I realized how that must have sounded and apologized for sounding like a db. She said it was okay, she knew what I meant.

I'm not allowed to talk to the new neighbors until I remove my foot from my mouth. I'm glad the other neighbors like us. Although I know my first impression with all of them was just as ridiculous. I'm glad they didn't hold first impressions against me.