Sure, I make it about stretching out my dog’s walk an extra block.
But really, who am I kidding?
It’s to get a glimpse.
An extra look.
To check if they are as attractive in a different time of daylight.
They are.
Not that my crush knows I’m alive. This love is unrequited, no doubt.
I don’t take it personally.
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As magnificent as my crush is, I realize the limitations.
After all, my crush is a house. The new house on the block. Well, two blocks over from ours.
Has this ever happened to you, Dear Reader? Developed a crush on a house?
Here’s the thing. It’s not like it’s the biggest or grandest house in the neighborhood. Which is exactly the point.
We live in a historic neighborhood. A mixture of grand old houses, modest bungalows and the inevitable — the McMansions built on lots where old bungalows are torn down.
Surely, I figured, that is what would be going up on the lot where my crush showed up. The dilapidated house that barely stood there was a tear-down if there ever was one.
That was expected. What came next was not.
The lot was leveled.
Way in the back of the lot, the frame of a small, modest house went up.
“They’re just building the carriage house and garage first,” was the buzz among the neighbors in the know. “The actual house-house will come later.”
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Not the way you usually see construction around here, but OK.
Only, the big house-house, the expected McMansion, never showed up. Instead, the modest small house in the rear of the lot was finished.
In went a long stretch of simple green lawn and a vegetable garden.
That’s it.
Small house.
Lawn.
Garden.
Simply enough.
I still have no idea who has moved in.
I’m tempted to knock on their front door and tell them, “I love you,” as soon as they open the front door.
I love you for not needing to fill every possible square inch of your lot with house.
I love you for not needing to build the biggest house in the neighborhood.
I love you for simply wanting enough.
It’s as if by not needing to impress the neighbors, you have, well — impressed the neighbors.
This one, at least.
This neighbor who increasingly replaces “How much can I get?” with “How much do I really need?” I suspect it is something that comes with age.
And having many opportunities to re-learn that stuff doesn’t make me happy.
Certainly, not lots of it.
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Enough does.
That is why I love this house, and these neighbors I don’t know.
Do I go crazy stalker lady and knock on their door?
I’m still fantasizing about that.
Would be such a shame to scare them off so soon in our relationship.
Think I’ll just go walk the dog.
A couple extra blocks.
Just to get another look.
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