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Can We Call This "Living?"
Jan. 17th, 2009 05:11 pmThe Wife and I are quite happy in our little neighborhood, close to downtown, close to 6 bus routes, friendly folks, and generally great little houses.
Generally.
Three doors down lived an old woman. She kept to herself, choosing to keep the company of friends at the senior center and nearby relatives who she sought for "help." I put help in quotations because if she could not find someone to "help" her -- do the work that needed to be done -- it simply wouldn't get done. That work? The roof, the lawn, little things. Those little things started to add up.
A few weeks ago, The Wife saw a monster rat sauntering up the sidewalk in broad daylight. Not a good sign. Worse, the local mouser cat just lay there watching the rat. This told us that Paulo felt no need to hunt this interloper, probably because he was sated with ratty goodness and all hunted out. This says something about the number and size of the rats currently calling the neighborhood home, which says a great deal about their probable hidey-hole . . . the neighbor's unkempt property. The Wife emailed the city with her suspicions about rodent harborage; they dutifully sent out an inspector . . . who didn't like the condition of the house. A letter of condemnation followed.
Behind the cut you will see a bit of what they found. I say "a bit" simply because the family has had a chance to seriously clean up the property since the neighbor lady moved out. ( Remember, until three weeks ago this house was occupied! )
Generally.
Three doors down lived an old woman. She kept to herself, choosing to keep the company of friends at the senior center and nearby relatives who she sought for "help." I put help in quotations because if she could not find someone to "help" her -- do the work that needed to be done -- it simply wouldn't get done. That work? The roof, the lawn, little things. Those little things started to add up.
A few weeks ago, The Wife saw a monster rat sauntering up the sidewalk in broad daylight. Not a good sign. Worse, the local mouser cat just lay there watching the rat. This told us that Paulo felt no need to hunt this interloper, probably because he was sated with ratty goodness and all hunted out. This says something about the number and size of the rats currently calling the neighborhood home, which says a great deal about their probable hidey-hole . . . the neighbor's unkempt property. The Wife emailed the city with her suspicions about rodent harborage; they dutifully sent out an inspector . . . who didn't like the condition of the house. A letter of condemnation followed.
Behind the cut you will see a bit of what they found. I say "a bit" simply because the family has had a chance to seriously clean up the property since the neighbor lady moved out. ( Remember, until three weeks ago this house was occupied! )
