Dispatches from the County XIII: Folks N the Hood

Who are the people in your neighbourhood? In your neighbourhood? In your neighbourhood? Oh who…

In my neighbourhood? Well there’s Carrie, the school bus driver, who always drives sensibly and really seems to love my kids and every other kid on her bus route. There’s the hermit down the road, Fred, who you may have already met; he’s got coke bottle-thick glasses and a penchant for ice skating.

John is the farmer who sells the best eggs in West Lake and has a sheep my son calls Fluffball. I have a neighbour well into his retirement, with a belly and a pickup truck and a smile as great as his name, Archie (the only real name in this thing; it’s just too perfect to change).

I get my fire wood from Chris, the big guy down the highway who is a self-proclaimed redneck, loves hunting and fishing, is super generous and sweet to his family including his aging father, and who doesn’t necessarily think that wineries are the greatest thing that every happened to Prince Edward County.

I know the names of our next-door neighbours too. Of course I do, we’ve skated together. I know PJ and CJ’s full names (they go by initials), I know their jobs and their backstories. I know the names of their pets, which level of government they blame for mishandling the pandemic. Listen, I’ve had kale from their garden.

Oh these are the people in my neighbourhood. In my neighbourhood…