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Caroline's avatar

We live not far from downtown Knoxville but in a rural little spot. Nearly all of my neighbors are between the ages of 75-95. It can be difficult to get to know folks but we’ve tried to be intentional about sending Christmas cards, making cookies etc in an effort to have a “reason” to meet people. The first year we lived in our house I sent one particular neighbor a Christmas card because her home has a long private driveway and it seemed invasive to walk up to the door unannounced. She sent a thank you card and we just never stopped writing each other. For the past 2.5 years we’ve written letters back and forth monthly and it’s been the most unexpected treat and friendship. I never imagined I’d be penpals with a neighbor. My direct neighbors are each women in their 90s who live alone. One still mows, mulches, and weeds her multi acre yard herself. The other has lived on her little hill for her entire life- it feels invaluable to know the history of a place-to hear Ms Velma talking about jumping the fence and walking the 3 miles to her grandmothers house--before the interstate existed, when our road was called route 4, before the bridge across the river was built and you had to ferry across. Knowing my neighbors has given me the gift of a shared story and history.

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Mel Lockcuff's avatar

When my dad passed away, we finally decided to move back close to home and bought an abandoned farm that was just completely trashed. We split it right down the middle with my dad's close friend, so he owns half and we own the other half. We went from neighborhood living with just backyard chickens to farm, where we cleaned up over 13 tons of trash, and now still have chickens (just a lot more), have a small herd of beef cows, milk a few Guernseys, and spend a lot of our time thinking about how to improve grasses and soil health. Our oldest has a market garden business. We've made friends with the ranchers down our dirt road. Our direct neighbors are both couples up there in age, one in his 90's. In fact, we're going up to his house to cut a couple trees he and his wife need cut, and we'll bring the wood home for our furnace in exchange. We've also been able to supply that neighbor with fresh eggs, and we've really formed a friendship with them. I think it gives them comfort to know there's someone close by in case of an emergency, as well. We're now starting to get involved with 4-H with our youngest, and our middle child is hoping to take his grandpa's old tractor (that he bought in a pretty bad state and has worked to fix up) to the old iron club/tractor pull this fall. This farming life is not for the faint of heart. Sometimes it's so idealized that it bothers me, but then I remember what it was like when we first moved here, and all the hopes and dreams we had. While it's idealized in many ways, it's also a real and very relevant dream. We still have other dreams, like the thought of moving to rural Maine, or the thought of traveling again... We used to travel a LOT with our rooftop tent and drive many a back road. While it's not totally feasible right now, we've found small ways to get away, like exploring back roads in our area and regionally, or meandering through antique stores looking for treasures. And sometimes we pile the kids in the car and head to a bigger town, where we can play mini golf or be a tourist again. While it's not always an easy life, and I do still dream of doing these other things, I can't say I'd trade this life, or go back. And I definitely wouldn't trade my neighbors for all the neighbors in the world.

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