We just put away the cooler, table and chairs from Neighbor's Night Out, a happy annual tradition you know had to have been started by someone up north.  I'm thinking most Texans would vote for Neighbor's Night Out in winter, not sultry August with mosquitoes as uninvited guests.

You can see that our yard is continuing to grow in.  Our neighbor Denise - an Air Force pathologist - is explaining, "You give me a corpse.  I'll tell you why it's a corpse."   Her dip was a hit, too.

(Some of) Da kids in da hood - or at least our cul-de-sac.  The dogs received a lot of leash-driven attention.  Lois (the show off) made hot chocolate chip cookies to complement the Oreos I so thoughtfully served.  Rachel went to a friend's house a couple of blocks over - "better snacks."

I like Neighbor's Night Out.  It's a great excuse to share neighborhood gossip, bash the local politicians and share recipes, as well as catch up on everybody.  We've got Pam, who just started a post-retirement career at Home Depot - and loves it.  The woman now knows her countertops, baby.  We've got Colin the computer guy with his wife Keri, who were nice enough to invite Julia and Hannah to their backyard bible club last week.  We've got Kim, a sweet child in an adult's body who is always so anxious to help.  We've got an assortment of kids ranging from age 2 to 16.  I like to look at them.  This is America and - praise God - we don't all have to look or act alike, but thankfully, they are all pretty good to each other (excluding their own siblings.)  The girls next door quit knocking months ago.

Please won't you be our neighbor?  There's a house for sale at the end of the block and we all want to see it sold soon.