Hola! I’m your neighbor, the idiot!
So, a few years ago, we had some new neighbors move in to the house directly west and behind us. They’re are way happy, celebratory family from Arizona/Mexico that have a lot of fun!
However, the first few weeks after they moved in, Kevin and I wondered if we’d be able to stay in our house at all, because the constant noise from our new neighbors as they cemented their entire back yard, erected a shed there, power washed everything constantly, sanded their cabinets and floors for refinishing, had a little girl whose big brother was always bugging her and causing her to shriek at the top of her lungs constantly, etc. nearly drove us batty! It was like that moment in How the Grinch Stole Christmas where the Grinch is grumbling, “All the noise, noise, noise noise! If there’s one thing I hate, it’s the noise, noise, noise noise!”
Anyway, along with all the noise, noise, noise, noise generated by our new neighbors there also seemed to be a constant stream of family and friends…which isn’t a bad thing, of course. We began to see an elderly woman in their back yard quite often, too, and assumed that she was perhaps a grandmother or some other relative. Why is their having a grandmother important? Well, because of this:
In the late afternoon and evening, when the sun is low in the west, the sun shines very brightly onto the back of our house.
Well, one early evening, I went onto our upstairs bedroom balcony, just to admire the beauty of the day…when I heard an elderly woman’s voice say, “Hola!”
I shaded my eyes from the intensity of the setting New Mexico sun (which anyone who has ever lived here can tell you is VERY intense…near to blinding), and looked down to our neighbors back yard in the direction from whence the old woman had greeted me. But the sun was so bright, I still couldn’t see clearly.
Not wanting to seem unfriendly, I tossed a happy wave into the air and returned the greeting, “Hello!”
Much to my surprise, the old woman’s voice again greeted, “Hola! Hola!”
I figured that maybe the kind old lady “No Hablo Ingles” (didn’t speak English), and so I waved again and called, “Hola! Hola!”
Again the kind, neighborly old woman seemed determined to make a new friend and called, “Hola! Hola!”
“Hola!” I called, wondering how in the world I was going to leave the balcony and go back into the house without offending our new neighbor. I mean, I don’t speak much Spanish at all! “Mi gato es muerto,” (My cat is dead) is about the only sentence I do know!
“Hola!” the woman greeted again.
At utter loss as to what to do, I figured I’d just say, “Adios,” and disappear into the house, right?
But by this time the sun had gone down just another hair, and the neighbors’ house behind us actually blocked its intense rays enough that I could see down into their back yard, at last.
“Hola!” I called as I waved once more…as I a moment later I glanced down into the neighbors’ cemented back yard and saw… a big, huge parrot sitting inside a big, huge white cage, calling out to me, “Hola! Hola!”
I could not believe it! Of course, my first thought was what an idiot I was…and my second thought was in hoping that none of my other neighbors had seen me out on my balcony waving and calling out, “Hola!” to a parrot!
I’ve never been a fan of parrots…and this particular parrot soon changed out it’s kind, old grandmotherly, “Hola!” in favor of the near continuous shriek of the little girl who was always shrieking! Believe me, after that switch, I sure wished it would have stuck with making me look like a fool and “Hola!”
Anywho…my kids get a huge kick out of that story, even though none of them witnessed it. And I’m not exactly sure why it came to mind today, but I thought I’d just share it as a piece of randomness added to you afternoon!
As for this week’s contest…last weeks winners are Amy L. and Amy C.! Loved your comments and will ship out your European Spa CDs as soon as I receive your shipping addresses! Please send them to me at marcialmcclure@cs.com, okay?
This week, everyone who takes a moment or two to leave a comment here on my blog, on Facebook, Goodreads, or via e-mailing me at marcialmcclure@cs.com about one of your own “I’m an idiot!” moments will be entered to win either a DVD set of Season 1 of one of my FAVORITE shows, Longmire…OR a DVD of one of my favorite movies, Quigley Down Under! I’ll pick 2 winners and each winner can choose between Longmire and Quigley, okay? It’s a tough choice, I know! But either one is fabulous! Why Longmire and Quigley? Well, because they both have beautiful sunsets in them…AND Longmire is even filmed here in New Mexico where some neighbors have parrots that mimic sweet old ladies greeting you!
Meanwhile, have a great weekend! Adios!
