Neighborhood update - the lawnmower wars begin

In case I haven't told you about the neighborhood we moved into a little over a year ago, here goes. We moved into a new development. Developers get some sort of tax break if they build multi-unit dwellings so, until about two years ago, our development was nothing but duplexes - which they continue to build. Two lots down from us, they built the first house which was occupied before we ever came to look at our house. Our house was originally being built for a friend of the developer (he backed out because he moved to a different town) who was helping to build and maintain the wetland that we now have a great view of.

Shortly after they started building our house, they must have started building the house on the corner because it was completed very shortly after we moved in. Once they finished house #3, a family moved in fairly shortly after. We thought it odd that they never removed the "For Sale" sign until we figured out they were just renting. They stayed about 6 months, the house sold, and another family moved in about 3 months ago.

In the last few months of 2003, the developer's plumbing contractor bought the lot next to us and started building a house. By the beginning of the summer, it was completed and on the market. Toward the end of June, it sold and a young couple, from what we could tell, moved in with the help of their parents. It looked like they were just getting started because they had a young baby and not a lot of furniture. The odd thing was that I never really saw them but most often saw a lady in her early 30's who drove a Toyota Camry.

The afternoon of July 31st, the garage door was open next door and I noticed that there was more stuff in the garage than usual, including a washer and dryer. That evening, a pickup truck with a flatbed trailer big enough to haul a car backed up, loaded the contents of the garage, and left. I haven't seen the young couple or the lady with the Camry since.

The next morning, an entire army of people showed up and started hauling furniture and boxes into the house. When the dust settled, it appeared that some college student's parents, to save money on rent over the next 4 or 5 years, had purchased a house and were housing their progeny and renting the other rooms to several friends.

Strange neighborhood.

I told you all of that to tell you this.

Since the students moved in next door, their lawn mowing efforts have been a little lax. When they did mow, which was, honestly, sometimes more often than me, they would often mow in sections. That is, on Friday, they would mow the area in the immediate front of the house. Saturday would involve mowing the sides of the house, leaving only the back yard. On Sunday, they would finish it off. I honestly thought it odd that they weren't into the competitive nature of what had become our neighborhood lawn mowing schedule - especially since they have a beautiful soded yard.

Tonight, I think I discovered why. As I was sitting working on my computer, which looks out the front of the house, I saw a pickup truck pull up and watched a young man unload a new Snapper lawn mower, assemble it and proceed to mow the lawn.

Looks like the old mower was tired and wore out. Now I'm going to have some real competition... dang it.