And there was that one time when we had too many zucchini...

Recently we've had a few customers who've been awfully close to home.  The area we live in is somewhat rural, so it's actually kind of a coincidence.

One person who contacted us actually grew up just one street over from us.  Literally one house separates our properties.

And this one house is occupied by a retired couple who have been wonderful neighbors to us.  They visited when the kid was born, bringing chocolates and presents and some much needed reassurance and advice.  They're active in the community; canvassing for the Cancer Society and taking part in other grassroot environmental movements.  They take better care of their property than I do, and they don't have a dog that craps on my lawn, which are ultimately the two most important things to look for in a neighbor.

Now, I was raised to always respect elders.  In this case that means I always called my neighbors "Mr. and Mrs. X".  I didn't know their first names.  Kind of like your elementary school teachers.  As far as you knew, they didn't even have first names.  Which is sometimes being ruined these days by the new breed of teachers who insist on being called "Miss Suzie".

But I digress.

This recent customer contacted Carol and after finding out how close we lived, recounted tales of when "Dick and Tiny" would throw crabapples at them when they trespassed on their beach.  Carol thought this was hilarious and asked if I knew that Mr. and Mrs. X's  first names were "Dick and Tiny".

I didn't.  And I'm still not sure if they are.  For all we know, that was just what the neighbourhood kids called them.  For all we know, the neighborhood kids could call us "Assface and that Crazy Bitch".

After all, we throw tomatoes at the trespassers on our beach.