Come as you are

We now live in a neighborhood. People are dropping by with promises of getting their phone numbers to us, and we even got a bag of apples. It's really nice, and it's made me feel comfortable very quickly. It's helped me not miss Capitol Hill as much as I had anticipated. Most of the neighbors own their properties, so I've realized that everyone is just a lot more invested in each other. One person said they were so happy to have a nice young couple with a baby, as "having a rental property next to you is always a risk." I guess a crappy owner next to you would be a lot more worse though.

In our few weeks here, however, I've realized how much I've missed the neighborhood feeling. Strangely, it's made me think about friendships too. In the past, you kind of had to accept your neighbors and the people around you, and they were your friends. There weren't cars and quick methods of transportation to give you much other options. You accepted your friends' flaws/quirks, and you appreciated the good in them. Now, it seems the same way that we seek perfect mates, we also seek perfect friends. I'm wondering if having choices has contributed to society's feeling more and more lonely. Is it better to be able to have friends with similar interests (but whom you can lose should things change) or is it better for everyone to accept others as they are? Of course, there are limitations to whom you would actually befriend as a neighbor.

After my study abroad experience, I became very close to people who are VERY different from me. The frat boys, the born again Christians, the future nun, and the future diplomat... we all became friends and are still in contact, even though it didn't seem possible at first. We were simply in a situation where we were with each other far more than we ever would have by choice, and in the end, we were almost all friends. That experience, along with the concept of fair weather friends, etc. made me think that perhaps friendships are much more ephemeral in the modern day context. It seems lifelong friends are much rarer these days... people are certainly always surprised by how close I am to most of my high school friends.
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Just added one more set of pictures - enjoy!