Opening

We've had a lot of turnover in our little community in the past couple of years, so we decided to hold a sort of impromptu neighborhood open house on Saturday. It was a perfect opportunity to distribute the new community directories (which had just come back from the printers) but also a chance for the old hands and the newcomers to mingle and get to know each other.

Many of us had been affected by the December 17th flooding, so it was also an opportunity to bond over our various war stories: we're all here because we love living on the water, but we're also very aware that our homes and community are very much at the mercy of the sea, and that we need to be able to rely on one another.

So people wandered in and out over the course of the day, picking up their directories and stopping to chat when they had the time. One couple brought these lovely tulips, which sat in the dining room feeding all our color-starved souls as the house filled up and the day wore on, the men gathering in the kitchen and the women drifting into the living room. It was a lovely time, and connections were forged that I know will stand us all in good stead.

It's such a simple thing, really, to open your house: to put on a pot of coffee, set out a plate of cookies, and invite the neighbors in. We didn't even really clean up all that much, just cleared the dining room table. Kind of makes me wonder why we don't do it more often...