Last evening I was talking with my neighbor to the east over our backyard fence. As darkness fell they were looking for a pet cat who had left their backyard. This is a fairly regular occurrence. The cat likes to explore and can easily jump to the top of the fence. We often see the cat walking along the top of the fence, investigating the birds in our trees. It is a gentle creature who is welcome in our yard from our point of view, but its owner would prefer for it to stay a bit closer to home. As far as I can tell, the cat is unimpressed by the rule that it should stay in its own back yard. I hope that the cat is safe, and I suspect that it returned home before bedtime.

The size of the lots in this neighborhood is much smaller than other places where we have lived. There is much less sense of privacy in our back yard than was the case in our South Dakota home. Before South Dakota we lived in a more urban area in Boise, Idaho, but we had quite a bit more space than we do in this house. You might think that the closeness of the houses in this neighborhood might mean that we would get to know our neighbors, but so far this hasn’t been the case.

We introduced ourselves to the neighbors to the north of our house when a ball went over the fence and we walked around to their front door to ask for their help in retrieving it. They did help, but we never did learn their names and even though they are out in their back yard most mornings and evenings smoking cigarettes, we have yet to have a significant conversation with them.

Our neighbors to the west don’t spend much time out doors. Over the fence, I can glimpse a very nice barbecue and smoker, but I've never observed anyone using them. We are definitely close enough that I’d smell the smoke if the were using their outdoor cooking appliances. I’m pretty sure the neighbors smell our barbecue, which is used most evenings during the summer. I cooked a couple of bratwurst yesterday and will probably cook on the grill again tonight.

Frankly I prefer the smell of the barbecue, and even the smell of neighbors smoking cigarettes to the aroma of marijuana smoke which occasionally blows our way from a neighbor’s back yard. The use of recreational marijuana is legal in Washington and we really don’t notice much impact from the difference in laws. We see the marijuana dispensaries around town and occasionally there will be a few vehicles parked in their lots, but we are not impacted by its use. Occasionally we’ll get a whiff from someone one the beach when we are out walking and we have one set of neighbors who occasionally smoke in their back yard, but there is little impact on our day to day living. I have wondered if my marijuana smoking neighbors are bothered by the smell of charcoal smoke when I am cooking in the dutch oven. No one has said a word. We are a bit slow in getting to know our neighbors despite the fact that we live pretty close to one another.

There are a few neighbors down the block and around the corner with whom we are becoming acquainted. Despite being a neighborhood where residents need to have cars to get to shopping and other services, our neighborhood is pretty walkable. There are good sidewalks and the traffic moves slowly. The neighborhood is short of parking, so there are always cars parked alongside the streets, which has the effect of slowing the traffic on the streets as cars have to make their way around the parked cars. When there are cars parked on both sides if the street there is barely room for two cars to pass in the remaining space and people have learned to slow down to make things work.

Since we are walkers, we are glad that the traffic is moving slowly and we take advantage of the sidewalks as we go about our way. We happen to enjoy neighborhood children playing basketball and other games in the street and are always very careful when driving our car. Some of the folks in our neighborhood are avid gardeners and we have had short conversations with them as we walk about the neighborhood. We don’t know many names, but there are neighbors that we recognize from these brief conversations.

I’ve been more conscious of community in our moves since retiring than I was during our active working years. When we moved prior to retirement, we were always being called to a church and had an “instant” community waiting to welcome us. Moving during Covid has been very different. Attendance at weekly worship services continues to be fairly low. The folks who participate online get to know us because we are regularly in front of the cameras, but we don’t get to know them. We don’t really get to know the folks who do come to worship very well. Covid protocols mean that we don’t sit around a fellowship hall sharing refreshments and conversation after worship.

We got to know some families and individuals from our congregation a bit better during family camp. The camp environment encouraged conversation and community building, things that seem to be in short supply right now.

I continue to work with several small groups that meet over Zoom, and I am beginning to learn quite a bit about participants, but it isn’t the same as an in-person face-to-face community. I’ve been told by some participants that our regular meetings are very important to their sense of well being and connection in these times.

The challenges of forming community are an invitation for us to increase our efforts and work a bit harder. We will be starting some new programs and working hard to develop and nurture community at church this fall.

I am unsure, however, how to build more community in our neighborhood. I have no plans to take up smoking marijuana in order to have something in common with our neighbors whose names I do not know. I’ll have to figure out another way to get to know them better.