Root River Diary

 

Editor’s Note: Our Root River Diary series features readers’ stories about the people who make the Root River valley such an interesting place to live. Guidelines and submission details can be found at the end of the article.

 

Good Neighbors

While walking down the gravel road after taking a misdelivered package to a neighbor to the north, I picked up a couple beer bottles someone had chucked out their window.

My neighbor to the south stopped to chat, and grinning, commented that I was starting early, wasn’t I?

I asked him if they’d received a notification from the mail carrier about needing to raise their mailbox. I had — and was worrying about how to go about achieving the goal of a ten-inch boost.

He said no, theirs was fine but he had recently thought about mine seeming low. He said he’d take a look at it.

I said I was afraid of saying anything to him about it, as I knew he’d say that.

He said he missed helping my late husband with projects, that he enjoyed the time they would spend together fixing things.

I said yes, I know. He drove off.

The next day the mailbox was raised.

 

Bonnie Gibson, rural Peterson

 

To learn about how to submit your own original short anecdote for the Root River Diary — about life in and around our small towns — click on Root River Diary Guidelines. Or read our Root River Dairy invites your stories article.