This will sound strange to many people, I’m sure, but amidst runs to the grocery store and other errands (oh, the excitement) I ended up doing something that I’d never done before—I met one of my neighbors.

I’m not entirely sure why I haven’t ever met any of my neighbors before. At Peachtree (1996-2001), I honestly didn’t even see the three neighbors on my floor for a couple of months, and then I just felt silly introducing myself at that point. I know, I should’ve said something, but… well, there we go. Then at Archstone (2001-2005), I only had one neighbor on my floor because the ground floor was built into a hill and so two of the four areas were equipment storage. There I’d occasionally smile and nod at the person who lived across the way, but neither of us ever talked to the other person. So there you go.

Now that I’m in Woodbury Park (2005+), I had once or twice held the door for the older woman on my floor, but she never seemed really ready to talk. (And she’s since moved out, and while I think there might be someone else there now, I have yet to see any real evidence of him or her, just that flyers on the doorstep vanish.) The people on either side I also hadn’t ever seen for months, and I am never even entirely sure at any given moment if there’s anyone in apartment on my left.

However! The apartment on my right which went vacant about two months ago now has a new inhabitant. He had the door propped open while I was heading out, so I said hello and gave him my name (and vice versa). That was painless.

But… I dunno… for some reason I’ve never felt like really introducing myself. Like doing so would be saying, “You’re going to be living there forever, time to know the locals.” Is this just me when it comes to a rented apartment?

(That said, I do quite love my neighborhood. If I could afford to buy in it, I would!)