Tribute to a good neighbor...

We try to encourage our children to be independent. Combined with a little creativity, this can be a good thing.

Recently, Andrew had a gig with Active Ingredients and Sam had a black belt ceremony to attend (not his). Around 6:30, Steve and I decided to head for Ballard and the annual NW Harvest fundraising concert by NW Chorale, to put us in the holiday spirit. Maddy was working on a Mr. Ferris Project that might or might not get done by the Monday morning due date, so we left her home with strict instructions.

Keep the doors locked. Don't light candles, don't use the stove. The dog stays with you. Finish your report. Sam will be home by 8:00. Keep the doors locked.

That's the abbreviated version.

We drove away with some gray, foul-looking clouds on the horizon, found the church on the 2nd try, and slipped in, completely unnoticed, to the back row of the tightly packed sanctuary. I waved at my godfather Sam, who sings in the chorale, but he didn't wave back.

The concert was just what we needed. Short, sweet, fun, musical. Steve was handsome, the pew was comfy, the acoustics were fine, I was pretty happy. When we left, the streets were already covered with a heavy dusting of fresh snow, and everything looked perfectly Christmas-like.

The mischievous look that Maddy met us with when we arrived home set me on edge. "How'd you make out?" I asked (my kids hate it when I ask that). "OK, but I locked myself out on the deck," she said.

We have a history of getting locked out on our deck. All five of us, plus various and sundry friends and relatives, have done it. The deck sits suspended high above the back yard with no external stairs, sort of like an eagle's nest. Once you're out there, if the doors to the dining room are locked, you're out there.

"Ugh. What happened?" I groaned. "Well," she said "Don't worry, I was creative..."

When the snow began to fall, Maddy watched it from the window for a while. Snow at Christmas time is always wonderful, especially for a kid, and Seattle gets very little, usually gone by the next morning (usually!). She couldn't stand it, so she opened the deck door and held out her hand to feel the flakes fall cold and soft. Next her toes needed to feel the chill. As Danny nudged her heels, she stepped all the way out onto the deck and closed the door behind her. Click.

She quickly tried first one door, then the next, jiggling the knobs energetically. Both were locked tight. Danny sat helpfully on the other side of the glass. Dressed only in jeans and a short-sleeved t-shirt, the novelty of being out in the snow soon wore off. She looked over the side of the deck. Quickly, she scaled the railing, stepped onto the side of the monkey bars (which her father wisely built for her beneath the deck boards) and flipped herself deftly down 10 feet, into the new snow. Cold! She scuttled over to where we keep a spare key, but instead of the key, a tired old spider with knobby grey knees came shuffling out of the hole. Maddy debated for one second and then raced up the path, around the fence, and straight to Patty's house next door.

Our neighbor Patty is good as gold. Better really. She's the kind of neighbor people dream of having when they first move into a house. She knows everyone on the block and all their stories. She keeps a tidy home and a beautiful, fragrant garden. And she and I routinely engage in some good, old-fashioned, neighborly sharing. I have been known to borrow eggs, milk, oil, cumin, recipes, dishes, garden tools, plants, books, and luggage, over the years. And she borrows...well, once she asked me if I had any bottled smoke flavoring that she needed for a new recipe she was trying out. I didn't have any. But, if she ever needs anything else, I'm sure she knows where to come.

We provide Patty with an endless supply of neighborly entertainment, too. She doesn’t mind Sam’s drumming one bit (except maybe not past 10 PM, please), and when Danny was just a puppy, he ran next door and stole her sandwich, right off her plate on the patio table! That was good fun. Once, Danny snuck in through her kitchen side door and ate every bit of cat food in the dish, freaking out both the cat and Hank, who thought it was an intruder. That was entertainment for Patty, Hank, AND the cat, sort of a three-for-one deal. She doesn't mind baseballs in her roses, leaves falling into her yard from our hopeless cherry tree, or dragging out our garbage and recycling cans when we go on vacation. Good as gold.

Patty opened her door and found Maddy, with a big smile, arms hugging herself tightly, and her bare toes turning bright red. "Hi Patty, isn't this snow just great? Can I borrow our house key? I seem to have locked myself out." Maddy said she knew Patty would be upset by her lack of shoes, socks, coat, hat, key, and parents, so she kept things very positive and upbeat.

Oh my.

It's good to be independent and creative. But still, we probably won't get parents-of-the-year award this time around...