Over the Backyard Fence

Hello, my neighbours! It’s been too long!

Scott and I have lived at XXXXXXX since XXXX. We’ve waved at a few of you, patted some of your pets, and said hello at the mailbox a few times. But we’ve not yet managed to get to know you. The challenges of the Coronavirus known as COVID-19 are bringing an end to that, I hope.

Many of us have already been forced to change the way we normally do things. While I usually work at home, many people don’t. Grocery stores are working round the clock to keep staples on the shelves. Some items, like disinfectant, are already hard to get. And we really have no idea what other significant challenges may yet arise. Which is why I’m reaching out to you.

Some of you may have heard that the Chinese symbol for “crisis” is made up of two brush strokes that symbolize “danger” and “opportunity”. That’s not exactly true. The strokes do mean “crisis” and “danger”, but together they mean something that challenges us to realize that this is a moment when things can go awry, when trouble could make us or break us. Inherent in that is something more important than the simple idea of “opportunity”. It’s the concept of making a choice for good or for ill; we get to choose what will come out of this time and we must do it carefully.

This Covid-19 bug has opened a moment when things could go seriously awry, when we can make things better for one another or worse. This might be the time to find out what being a real neighbourhood might look like. I’d like to find out; what we might offer one another as neighbours. We’re living in an unprecedented time of change. The likelihood of our needing one another again sometime soon, in another moment gone awry, might be very high. I’d like to practice what that might look like now, in the middle of this small or large crisis, whatever it is… I’d like to get to know you.

Being neighbourly is a concept previous generations understood. They built low fences (if they built them at all) so people could chat over them, share a cup of sugar, talk about the kids, catch up on neighbourhood news. Those generations cared about what went on next door or down the block in a way we have almost forgotten.

The most important thing we can practice right now is social distancing. So how can we be neighbourly while keeping our distance ourselves from one another?

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Rather than coming up with an answer to that question, I thought I’d just leave it in your mailbox. Call me and share your ideas. We can chat by Zoom or Skype or, the old-fashioned way, on the telephone. We can put up a private Facebook page and keep one another up to date on what’s happening: who’s in self-isolation (if anyone), who might need help getting groceries; who’s sick and alone and just wants to talk; who has a flat tire and needs it changed (Yes, I saw you down the street with that pneumatic drill!!!). We can be present to one another even if we can’t get up close and personal.

Call Scott or me: XXX-XXX-XXXX. I’ve set us up an email and you can reach out with ideas or concerns: XXXXXXXNeighbours@gmail.com (How to set up a new gmail account). Share your thoughts and what you might offer or what you think you might need. Once I’ve heard from some of you, we can plan the next steps, if there are any to be planned.

My mom-in-law, well into her 90s, as a gift to her wider faith  community, prepared a newsletter for returned missionaries and the widows of ministers. She called the newsletter “Over the Backyard Fence.” I love the image because it evokes that different time, when neighbours watched out for each other, parents let their kids walk to school and run outside to play on Saturdays when their chores were done, and the neighbour down the street would fix your kitchen sink for a glass of ice-cold pop. In this disorienting time of COVID-19, I’d love us to reorient ourselves toward one another in an “over the backyard fence” sort of way. Let me know if you do, too.