Now that I think back on my early days in the neighborhood, it seems a little odd that my first encounters were with the kids. The parents probably were bemoaning the intrusion of a single guy into their territory, wringing their hands and saying, "There goes the neighborhood," and generally keeping their distance from me. In today's world they likely would not have allowed the kids anywhere near my house.
On my very first day, the small moving truck that had dropped off my meager apartment belongings had barely pulled away when the doorbell rang, and I was greeted by a group of the kids. An older girl of maybe 11 was the spokesperson and announced, "We're the kids in the neighborhood and wanted to welcome you." About that time an orange mangy-looking object flew past me into the house, and it turned out to be one of the neighborhood cats. It was quite an adventure redirecting the animal back to the outdoors.
Then it was a week or so later that the little girl who later initiated the leaf-gathering project was at the door and wanted to know if she and her brother could have the dog house that the previous owner had left behind in my back yard. I told her they could have it if it was okay with their parents. Several minutes later she returned with several other kids and said it was fine with the parents. I last saw them carrying away the dog house like a team of ants herding a bread crumb. I closed the gate and thought that was the end of that. But the next morning as I was leaving for work, I noticed that the dog house was in the middle of my front yard. Never did hear an explanation as to why the move ended that way, but it was always an amusing story to tell to the parents in later years, long after I'd become an accepted part of the neighborhood.
Next came the first Halloween and my initiation into the giving end of Trick Or Treat. As the kids came by, a parent usually was tagging along out on the street, and as I passed out candy to one of the pretty little girls, I could hear the dad chuckle and say, "Welcome to the neighborhood."
AI
