Whatever happened to the days when you could just call up the neighbor next door or across the street and invite them over for a cup of mid-morning coffee? This was something my mother did on a regular basis when I was growing up. She would phone Judy from across the street (using just the 4-digit phone number back then) and they would share a cup of coffee and maybe a dessert fresh out of the oven. The days of the neighborly “pop-ins” seem to have vanished! But why?It’s comforting to know that I can just call up one of my neighbors and ask to borrow a cup of sugar, a little milk, an egg or two, or maybe that spice that I ran out of, but didn’t realize until I was already mixing up my pumpkin pie ingredients (by the way, thanks Lori for the nutmeg & ginger). Sometimes it’s a whole box of spaghetti because you didn’t check your cupboard before you browned the hamburger (thanks Caren).
It’s the simple things in life that I miss. We are so busy in our everyday lives & on the run with work, baseball, basketball, football, soccer, softball, karate, dance, ballet, and the list goes on, that we forget to take the time for the good things in life like friends, good neighbors, and yes a good old fashioned cup of coffee. I challenge you to slow things down a little and invite one or more neighbors over for a mid-morning cup of tea or coffee and dessert. Get to know new neighbors or bring in the familiar, but take the time to laugh, share ides or recipes, and bring a little “what once was” back into our today!
