The AAN

I've been toying with the idea of blogging for a time. Seems like a good thing; my own forum to talk about whatever the heck I feel like. But, toying with ideas comes much more naturally to me than actually doing something for me, as I am frighteningly lazy by nature. However, some things - such as acts of God and annoying-ass neighbors - can compell me to ignore my natural bent and ACT.

My AAN, as they shall now be called, have now made me so mad that I feel I must not just vent to the few people who have been polite enough to listen thus far, but to the WHOLE WORLD. They are annoying. And nosy. And generally awful neighbors. And I must have a soapbox to tell my story from, so, lo, I have created it.

They started with just small annoyances. Like telling us that our house used to be owned by their son, and different things about the way they did things as if that were the way things must be done! And then they asked permission for their dogs to come crap in our yard. As they asked, and they picked up the leavings, we thought it would be churlish not to let them. But then, we put some stuff on the yard to make it more grassy and less weedy, and the husband came over and asked to see the bag to see if it would hurt his dog, and kind of chided us for putting stuff on our lawn that might injure his puppy.

Then they got worse. They're quite old, and seem to have nothing better to do than watch what other folks in the neighborhood do. They started stalking me. If they knew I was home - which they knew by watching to see if my car left the garage - they'd come knock on the door, and, if I didn't answer the knocking, they'd call. About stupid crap, like could they have one of the volunteer seedlings that sprouted up under our crabapple. And then about the draininge ditch.

The drainage ditch is a part of an easment that stretches along our back yards. It's "supposed" to be maintained by five neighbors, us included, or so the AAN say. They hinted that they wanted it cleaned out to us, but we blew them off because we didn't see a problem, or a difference in the ditch from its appearance for the last four years. But, they have become obsessed with the draininge ditch, and actually called the city and told on the group of neighbors -including us and themselves - for not properly maintaining the draining ditch. The ditch isn't a maintenance hazard - it's just basically filled with dirt and tall weeds, but it does its function, and it isn't an eyesore.

It got so bad that I finally let the female of the AAN have it one day when she called to "convince" me the ditch needed attention, using the new and inventive tactic that my child would surely get malaria if we didn't clean it out. I really wasn't nice. To an 80-odd year-old woman. And it felt good.

And we're not on speaking terms with them at the moment.

And life is so much more peaceful.