My friend Claire says that we are "besties." She could be right. I don't know... I've never really been a person who qualifies my friends as "good, better, or best." I DO know that this particular friend is a very special person, and I am soooo thankful to have her in my life. And best of all, she conveniently lives right behind my house.
The two of us always find interesting things to discuss. And we laugh -- a lot!
I've discovered notes, cookies, flowers, earrings, and other offerings at our back door. This isn't a daily occurrence, but I find something with my name on it a few times each month.
I smiled as I read, "We are pretty much BFFs, aren't we?" on a recent note.
I've discovered notes, cookies, flowers, earrings, and other offerings at our back door. This isn't a daily occurrence, but I find something with my name on it a few times each month.
I smiled as I read, "We are pretty much BFFs, aren't we?" on a recent note.
It would be more convenient for the two of us to visit if there were a gate between the two backyards; however, the absence of a gate doesn't slow my friend down one bit. Claire has no trouble climbing/hopping/scrambling over the privacy fence.
Since I'm not much of a hopper, I leave notes for Claire under a rock on the top of the fence. I've also put homemade cookies and other surprises for my friend (and the rest of her family) out on top the fence. I just have to make sure foodstuff is in a container that the wildlife cannot get into before Claire discovers it.
Our friendship is most definitely a give and take kind of thing; neighborly, even.
Since I'm not much of a hopper, I leave notes for Claire under a rock on the top of the fence. I've also put homemade cookies and other surprises for my friend (and the rest of her family) out on top the fence. I just have to make sure foodstuff is in a container that the wildlife cannot get into before Claire discovers it.
Our friendship is most definitely a give and take kind of thing; neighborly, even.
Before you try to conjure up the image of an adult woman hurdling over a wooden privacy fence, let me explain that my friend Claire is nine-years-old. She's a nimble, cat-quick, usually barefooted, beautiful tomboy, yet very much a girlie-girl all bundled into one adorable package. She effortlessly pops over the six-foot-tall fence just to say, "Hello!" or to give me a hug. Claire eagerly hands out hugs to the rest of the family, too -- including the living, breathing (and usually purring) cats and our not-so-real stuffed bears. (Bear hugs?)
Frequently, I get to see her latest dress-up get-up. She is a princess in the photo above -- complete with ruby red lipstick! Princess Claire is holding her pet skink. Sadly, I cannot remember what she named this critter. (This girl is a miniature Ellie Mae Clampett!) The skink peed down Claire's arm after I snapped the photo. The princess and the pee? I suppose the paparazzi proved to be too much for this lil' guy.
Sometimes we just chat across the fence. No hopping over is required. And other times my friend brings her friends or her cousins over the fence to visit the Smith Haus. The welcome mat is always out for this neighbor girlie, yet there is no actual mat at the back door. :-P
Sometimes we just chat across the fence. No hopping over is required. And other times my friend brings her friends or her cousins over the fence to visit the Smith Haus. The welcome mat is always out for this neighbor girlie, yet there is no actual mat at the back door. :-P
I think Claire has actually ridden her bike the L-O-N-G way around the block twice, but that takes too much time. The shortest distance between two points IS a straight line, you know! The sidewalk route from our house to hers measures .25 miles door-to-door. The over-the-fence route is roughly .02 miles. Rain, shine, hot or chilly weather makes no difference to my fence climbing neighbor.
I wanted to do something nice for my friend, so we decided that getting her a ginormous bear would be a fun thing to do. Claire LOVES our trio of oversized stuffed Costco bears. She even remembers their names: Harwood, Norwood, and Derwood.
On a recent shopping trek, we adopted a bear for Claire. I wasn't sure when or how I'd present it to her, but I wanted to have it on hand. I thought about keeping it and giving it to her for a birthday present in October, but decided she "needed" the bear as a back to school surprise.
The gigantic stuffed animal was positioned on the fence early one morning with a note attached for Claire. She was giddy with excitement when she saw the bear, or at least that is the story I got from her parents.
She named her bear Elwood. Love it!!
Harwood, Norwood, and Derwood watched the rescue operation from the upstairs windows. Yes, "Goldilocks" noticed that she was being watched by the three bears.
The three Smith bears and Claire's bear are definitely beary best friends... I guess that would mean they are BBFs instead of BFFs. Hmmm...
Oh, it's soooo good to have a (good, better, or best?) friend, but I think it feels BEST to be a friend.
