Neighbours

I wince.  BANG, BANG, THUMP, THUMP!  It goes on and on, day after day after day.  I wince again.  My once rather quiet neighbours are having a granny flat installed.  To save a few dollars the man of the household is compacting the soil after moving his soak wells.  I think to myself a machine could surely compact the small area of ground in a matter of hours?  I am not sure if I am wrong. 

His wife said his shoulder is hurting from the thumping.  I told her I was not happy with the thumping he was planning for Christmas day.  They were holding their family get together the following day but they listened to my request and Christmas day was 'thump-free.'

Alas over a week later and the thumping continues.  It is hot and the pleasant breeze in the afternoon helps cool the house.  There is no escaping the thumping throughout the house.

On New Year's Eve I had planned on a quiet drink of wine and some nibbles under the back patio with the tinkling sound of our pleasant fountain to entertain us.  Instead I grabbed our old Ghetto Blaster and CD of the late Joe Cocker.  Until then I had no idea how loud that 90’s blaster could get; but I know now!

I expected lines of people knocking on our front door complaining about the noise, but no one bothered.  They were probably relieved not to hear the thumping!  We enjoyed our traditional celebration drink with a little help from Joe.  It was definitely a little different from our regular tradition.

I began to think about Dustin's kindy teacher who once told me she could never live in the suburbs.  She shared this a long time ago but she lived on a large property with horses and no near neighbours.  It was bliss to her. From her point of view I am one of the strange ones.  I like living in a little square box on a small patch of land surrounded by people I am neither related to nor overly friendly with.  It provides me with a sense of comfort knowing others are close by.  I would rather be in a crowd than a large open space by myself.

Today I am hoping the neighbour's granny flat will soon be delivered (yes more noise but not forever) and the thumping will become a distant memory.  This time next year I may even be able to chuckle about it.