Never judge a book by its cover

My dad always said, never judge a book by its cover.

Well, I am human and I pre-judged our neighborhood. Both the Man and I. The streets are dirty and littered with trash, there's hardly any trees like where we live currently, there's a lot of poor or homeless people wandering around, definitely a lower income neighborhood than what we are used to. So I judged.

I have been proven wrong. Recently, the Man was approached by our friendly neighbor who lives right behind us. Luck would have it, he was working in the garage when she was pulling up into her garage. She invited us to the Neighborhood Watch meeting that the surrounding neighborhood has once a month. First off, that was really nice of her to reach out and invite us.

When the day came around, we were excited and a little apprehensive about it. Again, don't judge a book by its cover. Well, in this case, don't judge the people by the neighborhood. Turns out, EVERYONE, no joke, everyone was so very welcoming, so nice, so eclectic and just so friendly. I was blown away. We lived in a fairly decent neighborhood and we never talked to our neighbors. I thought no one talks to their neighbors anymore!

I was overwhelmed that everyone welcomed us with open arms. Everyone wanted to shared their stories, talk to us about our house, talk about restoration of old craftsman homes, talk about the neighborhood, the goods and the bads. It was simply astonishing. Never in my life have I felt such a strong, community presence in a group of people. It was wonderful. Most of the them there for over a decade, some even for 30+ years if not their whole lives. I loved how they watch out for each other, having seasonal get-togethers and coffee together on the weekends on the porch. Everyone knew what was going on in the neighbor as well as the renovation process of their homes. It was great. We heard so many great stories and met so many great and different people.

Despite the look of our neighborhood and the condition its in, there are people in this area who want to make it better and make it inviting. That kind of motivation and willingness makes me want to make our neighborhood better as well. To join this group and be the persistent force behind bettering the community and having something to be proud of. 

So kids, don't judge anything by its cover. Not till you get to know it a little. Trust me. 

Pleasantly surprised,

The Lady