Tonight's Meet and Greet Brought to You by Delmarva Power

So it turns out the best way to meet your neighbors is to have a power outage.

A few weeks ago, I came home after dance class with Mom and pushed the button to the garage door opener. When the garage didn't open, I pushed it about a million more times. Got out. Aimed it at the garage. Cursed. Gave up. Went inside. Realized the power was out.

So I called Delmarva Power, gave my number and address and reported the outage. Like every other company we are a customer of, they have us listed as Estelle Bordley, so I explained to the lady for the umpteenth time that Estelle has been dead since 2007 and we just happen to be the lucky ones who got her old phone number. After that, I went flashlight hunting in our basement since it was still light enough to get around. I came up with zero flashlights and one crappy bayberry scented candle.

After the hunt, I saw that Amy and Floyd were outside (which is sort of funny because I see them more than any of the other neighbors, but they don't actually live in their house yet. It's not finished, but they stop by to check in every few days). Stuck my head out and said hi. Ended up standing out there chatting. Scott from next door came over and we all stood in Kevin's driveway. Kevin came home and tried to open his garage, wondering what we were all doing in his driveway. He got out and did the aiming and cursing thing too. Frank from across the street stopped over. We met Amanda from across the way. Nancy came home and wandered by.

Kevin brought out beers, we all changed into comfy clothes, and sat around outside in lawn chairs. Eventually we ended up inside Kevin's (the only one with a grill) with the contents of everyone's fridge. And after that? A flashlight guided tour of each other's houses since we really had nothing better to do.

So, like I said before, power outage. Not a bad way to meet your neighbors! And I am excited to say that my neighbors managed to turn what would have been an annoying night of hanging out in the dark into a fun social event. I think this bodes well for the dynamic in our little neighborhood.