New Neighbors

I love my new neighbors. I see their cars parked overnight for the first time. Their bedroom window is a few feet from my kitchen. Early this morning I closed the kitchen window so I wouldn't wake them while I washed last night's supper dishes and made coffee. I had gone to bed early but I think they were up late moving in. Now my window is open an inch and classical music is playing softly on the radio as I make toast. My chickpeas are simmering and my laundry is hanging in the sun, I hope they don't mind.

I am so ready to love my new neighbors. It is awful to have neighbors you dislike, because then everything they do becomes annoying. The cozy sensation of a neighborhood full of people shifts into a maddening and relentless irritation. A parked car, an open window, the closing of a door are all laced with spite.