passive aggressive

Okay. The neighbors.
Man, woman, (college age?) daughter.
I learned pretty quickly after we moved in that these people would probaby enjoy living in a commune far away from other people. But somehow, they chose the cul-de-sac in the city, where they have slowly been surrounded by people... with children.

I have spoken to the man once. It was very shortly after we moved in. My kids were exploring the woods on the edge of our adjoining yards. The man came home from work and very nicely said that the kids should be careful because he had encountered several copperheads in the yard.

Later on, I realized that what he probably really meant to say was, "stay the hell out of my yard."

I have since seen him sprint out of his house, in his pjs, to shoo a couple of skateboarders out from the area in front of his house. (please correct me if I'm wrong... but I believe that the city owns the first few feet of property bordering the street, right?)

moving on.

The lady. We have exchanged 'hellos' out by the mailbox several times, and we've chatted about our pets. But that's it. If I get a personal visit, I know that something must be dreadfully wrong. We had an incident with a bee hive a few months ago that totally flustered me. Things didn't work out the way that she planned and I don't think I've laid eyes on her since.

It's not really the lack of verbal communication that baffles me. It's the interesting little actions that they take in order to solve their dire irritations.
Most of what I notice, I have tucked away somewhere, not even to be thought of again. I try not to waste energy on some of this stuff.

But their actions today.. make me partly want to chuckle and partly want to scream.

Rewind:
My kids have strict orders to stay out of the neighbor's yard and driveway. The other neighbor kids do not. So I feel like I'm constantly reminding them to steer clear.
And, to make a long story short... and admit some fault on our part... over the past few weeks, the kids have been drawn to snowy and icy areas out by the woods. And I've even caught them sledding through the neighbor yard a couple of times :(

So, here's the kicker:
I woke up this morning, opened the curtains to see a lawn chair stretched out and open, on the edge of their yard, where a slight remainder of sledding trail once was. A subtle way of saying "don't come this way", I assume.

We came home this afternoon to see THREE lawn chairs open and stretched out along the property line.
Come on now, really?? I think we got the point with the first one.
And to think that they used the energy to drag two more chairs out, through the mud, to mark their territory? absurd.
And really? Are my kids actually going to be sledding in the mud today? (there is no snow left!)

This also reminds me of when they parked one of their cars at the very end of their driveway, for several months. And I ventured to think that it was just their way of keeping kids from cutting catty corner through their driveway on bikes or on foot.

Now, I realize that kids are loud. And that I'm pretty loud when I holler out the door. But are we really that much of a nuisance?
I keep my yard tidy and the kids put their bikes and toys away in the evenings. Are we really that bad to have as neighbors? Have we caused damage to their property or murdered their pets?
Not that I know of.

For goodness sakes.. go ahead and put up a real wall to accompany the relational one that already exists...
geez.