When I was a kid, maybe 9 or 10 years old, there was an old timer in my neighborhood who would wave at everyone he passed on the street. I remember it as if it were yesterday; a powder blue late model Dodge, stock hubcaps, and the driver's window always rolled down. If he was passing a group of us kids he always flashed us the, ever so cool, "peace sign." We would always laugh and we would always wave back. I remember seeing him year after year until I grew to be an adult and finally moved away. One day about the time I turned 15 the peace sign turned to a friendly wave as he passed me on the street.
For some reason I have picked up this habit. Janice and I live in a Vancouver, Wa neighborhood called Felida Knolls. The are 30 or so homes in the neighborhood with an above average number of kids. There is always someone out. Neighbors gardening or washing their car, kids playing on the street... Since we primarily office out of our home, we drive in and out of the neighborhood many times a day. We probably wave at 10 to 12 of our neighbors on any given day! Jokingly, I refer to it as the "Mark Hall World Tour. Making Friends everywhere I go!" Some days, if I come home when our next door neighbors are out, mom, dad, and all three kids, line up to wave. I feel like I am in a parade!
A few days back, the phone rings and it is one of our neighbors who lives around the corner. He wanted to talk to us about listing his home for sale. I asked him how he decided to give us a call and he said, "You guys are the two who wave to everyone in the neighborhood! Everybody knows you."
Photo by Jimw
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