Tuesday... National Night Out

I don't know if National Night Out is really "celebrated" all over the United States, and I don't remember how long ago this started. What happens is that neighbors on each street are supposed to leave their front porch lights on and gather together at one end of their street for a very informal block-party. It's a "say hello to your neighbors" type of thing.

When I first told my sister about this Night Out, she told me that no one up in New York would participate because they'd be afraid of strangers breaking into their homes from the back doors as they were all outside in front of their houses. "Not a smart thing to do up here," she told me.

Our street being a cul-de-sac, there are just 15 houses. Except for two families that just busily come and go and wave as they drive by, we're all very friendly and neighborly. National Night Out is always held on the first Tuesday of August, which here translates to broiling hot. My husband and I used to go down to the end of the cul-de-sac and join the neighbors.... then the mosquitoes and the heat won out and we said good-night. Most of the other neighbors were enjoying Margaritas (which we don't drink) so I don't think they noticed the mosquitoes and the heat just gave them more incentive to drink another Margarita.

For a few years in a row, it just happened that my husband was out of town on National Night Out, so I went by myself, said hello to everyone, signed the "guest" list, and came home early. (This yearly event starts at 6:30 and runs till 9:00 pm.) Last year, my husband was here and decided he should go down the street and say hello to the neighbors. I reminded him about the heat, the mosquitoes, and also reminded him that we're always friendly with our neighbors. He insisted... I truly think that he thought he'd been missing something those years he was out of town for this Night Out.

I think our neighborliness last year lasted less than half an hour. If I remember correctly, the temperature was close to 100 degrees, and the mosquitoes were relentless. As we made our way back up to our house, my husband said "Remind me never to do this again." Luckily for him, he's out of town for a few days. I debated whether to go down the street and sign our names on the "guest" list.... say hello.... talk about the heat and swat the mosquitoes. Then I decided to clean the screen-porch and rearrange the furniture out there. Granted, it was hot on the porch, but there wasn't a mosquito or Margarita in sight.