It’s that time of year again I suppose, to look into nuances of what it means to be neighborly. As a school teacher I often try to instill values of neighborliness, so students can get along and work up to their abilities. They help each-other, there is no quid pro quo. Students move to different desks when necessary, and change seats if called for.

What about people in our community, the ones who share boundaries? Actual neighbors. We have seen how property lines have created wars for time immemorial. How do borders work? Do loose borders make for tight friendships? I like that idea. Do tight borders make for loose lips that sink ships? Not as likely. What do borders and property lines actually signify in small towns, big cities, or out in the country?

Going back to when I first moved to our little hamlet, I was cautioned not to wander into anyone else’s property out in the country, because I might get mistaken for a deer and shot! Back in the 1960s we cut across peoples back yards to get wherever we needed to go in the big, little city of Denver.

In the south it is different. But what happened to neighborliness? It has diminished as the yuppies pile in to scoop up their second homes (then add 60 percent to the place)—porches, pop-ups, and lots of artist’s sheds. This group of listless retirees have finished installing their hound dogs into their rustic lifestyles. They’ve completed their serious hobby challenges, and now, (at a loss for meaning in their padded yuppie lives), explode into a frenzy to bring about perfect architectural digest-worthy tiny house and gardens extraordinaire. Like a teensy little castle, these building projects on tiny patches of land, rival The Biltmore, (well maybe not) but certainly they matter. The perfect property looking perfect—which by association seems to make the owners (and their hounds) …perfect!

These silly clowns have no purpose or way to add to the goodness of the world, to help anyone, or do for others. These people are most likely politically correct, but with no intention of allowing a social reckoning. These guys know about boundaries, they understand their rights as property owners…unfortunately, that’s about all they understand from what I can tell.

If I were to mention there is a big difference between being right and being righteous I don’t think they would begin to understand that!

There is a vast difference between how classes represent borders and property. I think it is easy to comprehend when you imagine how the wealthy elite must protect their stuff from the struggling masses. The question becomes, of course, just how tight must those with property hold onto their ideas of ownership, and how much can they afford to let loose of, for the good of us all.

A big and small question. But then again, it always is.