this post took me half an hour to compose (allowing time for one short email and one visit to dictionary.com).

New experience:
Wandering back out onto the lawn after I'd just gotten home, phone in hand, waiting for the other party to pick up, I glimpsed an understanding of the concept of neighbours. While approaching my block, I saw a four- or five-year-old on his tricycle in our driveway, his younger brother just further down the sidewalk. As I got closer I expected to see their caregiver at my door, popping something in the mailbox or ringing the doorbell. When I saw they weren't there, I wanted to see the caregiver behind the van or the tree or somewhere in the vicinity. No dice!
I wandered back outside to watch them as they ambled down the sidewalk, hoping the adult would pop out and these kids weren't lost/abandoned/not where they should be. Can't tell you how many times I've stood around waiting for the adult guardian to show up. It bothers me.
By the time I was at the end of my driveway, dad had shown up. I about-faced and went back in. But while I was waiting, NOT creepily staring at them, I was aimlessly looking around the surrounding blocks and I noticed the rowdy & fun kids I always see at a pair of houses because they're on my preferred route home being rowdy and fun as usual. My heart was warmed because of the familiarity. A few houses up, I saw the pre-teen boy who I had noticed sidearming a baseball against the fence, presumably to practice fielding groundballs or squibbers* and this on its own made me smile because, well, it says something about a kid who plays their sport when no one else will play with them. But when I looked back later, I caught the tail end of something that made his older sister squeal and throw up her arms to protect her head. She doesn't like baseball or want to play catch with him. I think this is funny. Siblings!

At the end of this survey which probably took less than thirty seconds, I deeply appreciated the idea of knowing and enjoying the people who live next to you...because they live next to you. It didn't make sense to me before because it seemed too random to warrant a legitimate relationship. It's like carving out a new term for an affectionate relationship for the people in the same subway car as you - a term other than strangers, I mean. (Granted, commuters may have a different experience, if they're spending two hours every day with one another for years upon end. They're practically coworkers.)
Generally, I thought, "I don't know them - why should I expect to be a part of their lives or they of mine?" Even now I'm struggling to wrap my mind around it but what I DECIDED in the driveway twenty minutes ago was that I could easily chuck the logic out the window because human relationships rarely make sense but they ARE precious.

Surprizing experience:
The month-old yoghurt taking up space on the door of my fridge was no closer to Ferngully today than it would have been in June when I gave up on it. PHEW. I actually took a few moments to steady myself, and a few deep breaths to be steeled for the experience. Ahh. So relieving. So worth it for the space!

Past experience:
I once sat at the dining room table with two large speakers from the sound system about four inches from either ear, my head on the table and eyes closed listening to the track I'm listening to now, "Take My Breath Away" from Queen's A Day at the Races. I suppose the idea was that I couldn't get enough of the sound...or something. It's hard to describe. I think I wanted to disappear into the music or soak it up, as one does. Even now, eight years on, I'm finding it hard to focus on typing. No, I didn't own headphones at the time and yes, that might have made more sense.


*Baseball announcers use this term more frequently and meaningfully than I first thought. They're talking about a fair ball that shouldn't be a fair ball - or more important, a base-hit - because it's poorly (or accidentally!) hit and manages to squib past the first or thirdbaseman. I guess you could also call it "flukey".