How we met our neighbors

Kyle and I became homeowners for the first time one year ago almost today. It was exciting! We couldn't wait to get to know the area and the other residents. Some people meet their neighbors at a BBQ or when walking to the mailbox or even when they need to borrow the ever popular cup of sugar. This is not how we met our neighbors.

It was the day of the city's airshow and Kyle and I had been invited to watch the show from a sailboat, heck yeah! We both put our cell phones under the boat deck and enjoyed the amazing aerial spectacle. Hours later we docked back at the harbor and were walking to our car when I glanced at my phone. Panic struck. 18 missed calls. And worse, all phone numbers I didn't recognize. I thought, this is not good. Just as I was about to listen to my voicemail, my phone rang again. "Kathy, its your neighbor. Don't worry everything is ok." WHAT! WHAT'S OK? WHAT HAPPENED!

We noticed earlier in the week, while the airshow was practicing for the event that Simba wasn't loving the noise. Not to complain, because I LOVE the airshow, but regardless of your location in the city, it's loud and buildings shake from floor to ceiling with most of these aircrafts.

On the day of the event I left our second story kitchen window opened about 4 inches. Apparently, Simba pushed the window opened enough to crawl out. Pushing the screen out just enough to jumped two stories behind the house. Landing without injury to the driveway. Several neighbors saw this. Several came to make sure he was ok and many took great care of him until Kyle and I returned home. Some neighbors got my phone number off Simba's collar, others from the association call list and some called from the gate phone and left messages on our house machine. Our favorite message went something like this, "This is your neighbor and we just saw your dog jump out the window. We thought maybe he was trying to get you help. Are you ok?" Simba is a smart dog but he is no Lassie.

To this day, I don't leave any windows open when Simba is home alone. And I still see unknown neighbors that say hi to the "Dog that jumped out the second story window".