Neighbors

My 88-year-old neighbor came by yesterday while I was out working in my yard. He has the most astounding backyard garden and offered to share some of his crop with me, just as he did last year. It’s amazing to wander into his backyard to find endless vines full of fresh grapes...the scene is just as picturesque (albeit on a smaller scale) as vineyards I’ve visited in Europe and Australia! My neighbor’s tomatoes came out particularly well this year, and I look forward to trying some of the soon-to-be-ready butternut squash.

This elderly man is just one of many kind neighbors I’ve encountered since moving to Fitchburg. I previously lived in a rather wealthy MetroWest town where no one seemed to have the time to be friendly. It’s great to now live in a place where one neighbor loans me gardening books, another leaves homemade “Scotch Kisses” (a caramel and marshmallow candy I was told was once a Fitchburg tradition) on my porch, and a third helped clear our driveway when our snowblower died in the middle of a blizzard.

Our neighborhood is made up primarily of middle-class working families of different ethnic backgrounds living in older, modest-sized homes. Some people have lived on our street most of their lives, while others (like my husband and me) are young couples new to the area. Although our backgrounds are varied, we all seem to share an underlying pride for our homes and the neighborhood, which has created a sense of community that I’ve not experienced in other places I’ve lived. It’s just another of the unexpected perks I’ve found living in Fitchburg.