I remain fascinated by the passage of time and my neighbors have become a reference point in how everything changes. I just learned from a real estate friend that my neighbor Tom is selling his house even though there is no sign in the front. With his move that now makes us one of the older families in the neighborhood having been here for fourteen years. Fourteen years! Where does the time go?
As for our home in particular I pursued the idea of buy once and live in it forever, or at least until the kids are out and a move back to Japan might be preferable. Even then, we’d never sell, just rent. Fortunately, we bought during the housing crisis when the costs were much more reasonable than they are now. Otherwise, we probably would have moved to Oregon or Washington state as a next move.
As for my ‘newish’ neighbors they are a good family although I was shocked when I learned they’d run a daycare. That means we have to put up with yelling and crying almost everyday but it is part of their livelihood and provides a valuable service so I learned to accept it. As I’ve written before, they also got a rooster but I’ve been assured it won’t be around long. The previous owners were Steve and Cindy, a nice couple originally from Taiwan. They had two kids and embarked on a major home upgrade of their backyard and patio. I was dismayed that they ripped out some medium sized trees (large bushes) that acted as hedges and so afforded a lot of privacy to make a large side patio. The fence affords decent privacy but not like those hedges.
However, once they completed the project they moved down to the mountains near Santa Cruz. I wonder how that is working for them as there is only one freeway between Santa Cruz and San Jose. Their home insurance must also be through the roof as wildfires have become a huge concern with major insurance agencies now pulling out. Steve was a calm fellow but Cindy, while always cordial with us could be a firecracker. I once heard her yelling in the phone and she threatened to kill whoever she was talking to. Steve also left the house once or twice late at night after what I presume was an argument.
Regardless, they were good, quiet neighbors unlike the current owners. But there is potential to be good friends with the current neighbors so long as they get rid of the rooster soon.
On the other side my neighbor Tom, is a Pacifica native and knows everyone. He likes to associate with the ‘surfer crowd’ which means the smell of marijuana sometimes drifts into our yard and it seems he always has a visitor. He has been constantly working on his home ever since we moved in and so I’m very surprised he is selling. You do all that work only to move? Perhaps his enjoyment was the actual work instead of enjoying his upgrades such as a beautiful shed, an outdoor sauna and a cookout station complete with a semi-kitchen and lounge area.
I spoke with him the other day and it didn’t sound like things were going well on many fronts. I won’t get into the details but I didn’t suspect that those issues would lead to him selling the house. When I moved in he let me know he wondered “What kind of neighbor am I going to get?” He didn’t get along too well with Dave, who owned our house previously. Well, we did end up getting along and now I must wonder the same. Thankfully, Tom and I had a nice big fence installed about 5 or 6 years ago but as I’ve learned, fences don’t stop noise.
Across the street I consider the three houses in front of us our neighbors. Only one of them was here when we moved in and it is unlikely they will ever move. They are directly in front of us and to their left lived an older gentleman (we’ll call him Jim) whose son had moved out of the house and he must have gotten a divorce some years prior to us moving here. Unfortunately, he lost his house being unable to pay the mortgage. I only spoke to him a few times as he’d park and go inside. His son would sometimes stay and I’d see him walking the dog.
I learned that before him there was a conspiracy theorist who ended up moving to Montana to live in some sort of commune. Jim however was not troublesome as we rarely saw him. After losing the house I believe it was sold to a Chinese couple who have rented it ever since. I’ve not once seen them back and the house has been rented three times since then. The first was to a recently divorced woman with two or three kids. She was friendly enough but didn’t stay more than half a year. Next came a biker chick – Monica – and I can still recall her rolling up for the first time with one of her biker club friends. Hard to miss her arrival or departure with the sound of that bike.
Monica was nice enough although I didn’t enjoy the sound from her Harley Davidson bike. She lived alone so normally it was only one motorcycle but sometimes she’d throw a party in the garage and the whole gang (literally) was there. But for the most part, she was a good neighbor except for the loud bike. On a sad note, she had a wonderful cat that would come into our yard and even look in our sliding door. The cat was very friendly and we enjoyed her presence. Sadly, she let it roam too much and we believe it was eaten by coyotes as she’d always go into the wild area separating us from our neighbors down the hill.
Monica eventually moved on and now we have Justin who is from England and also divorced. I’ve only spoken to Justin at length one time when all the kids got ice cream from the truck when it used to drive down the street. Now the truck just parks and uses an app to let everyone know where it is. Since then I’ve only said ‘hi’ to Justin when I see him which is often as he must be a ‘task rabbit’ using apps to deliver things to people. He comes and goes all day long and so there is a 30% chance I’ll see him if I step out my front door. He’s been there for at least three years. It must be very difficult getting a divorce, having two kids and trying to pay rent and all other expenses delivering things to people. He is not a troublesome neighbor and I wish him well.
On the other side of our ‘permanent’ neighbors across the street lived Nicholas. He is the owner but moved to Kansas about a decade ago and also rented out his house. That didn’t give us much time to get to know Nicholas but we got along when we did talk. We even invited him to a party and he was excited to bring his Japanese girlfriend. Sadly, his girlfriend broke up with him shortly before the party and we never met her. Then, for work reasons he announces he is moving to Kansas. Pacifica to Kansas, that must have been devastating.
He ended up renting out his house too and we got Gabe and his family. Gabe was there for about eight years or so and I enjoyed having him as a neighbor. He invited us to a few kid birthday parties, which was always appreciated. I invited him for drinks when i’m a bachelor in the summer but the timing never worked out. His mother also lived with him and she was a sweet lady. Time marches on however and she sadly passed about three years ago. Gabe and family then moved but only a few houses down into a family addition to a relative. However, I’ve only seen him once since the move since he’s not in front of us anymore.
The new renter I’ve never even said ‘hi’ to. I’m not sure about those people as I’ve now come to consider them a bit stereotypical with the truck, the loud dog and a night when seemingly after a fight with his significant other tried to leave around midnight and her yelling while trying to stop him woke me up. I’ve only seen them outside a couple of times in the past two years but neither of us have made an effort to engage.
From my descriptions you’d think I lived in somewhat of a rough neighborhood but it couldn’t be further from the truth. Pacifica, while not having a great reputation in the past is rapidly gentrifying. People in the Bay continue to think that our town is always foggy but that couldn’t be further from the truth with global warming. Yes, we have fog and yes, sometimes it is for long stretches especially in the summer but the days of months on end with ‘pea soup’ are long gone. It is now sunny almost everyday with fog on occassion. My solar bill is a testament to this having to pay only $77 for the year and I’m an energy hog.
My neighbor selling his house has made me ponder just how fast time goes by although change can be slow. Suddenly, one day you realize everything is different, as I do now. One day my own kids will be on their own and we’ll have two empty bedrooms. Just as I thought my neighbors would be permanent, the thought of my boys being out of the house seems so far away. But like my neighbors moving it will eventually happen and I’ll write another post wondering where the time has gone.
I should end there but thought I’d mention Sandra who was my neighbor ‘down the hill.’ When we moved in her house was recently vacant as her Aunt was old and had some mental problems and put in a home. Sandra was then the caretaker and we got along well, especially since she let us top the pines so we could have an ocean view. Well, her aunt eventually passed away and her brother, selfishly decided to sell the house kicking Sandra out. In came new neighbors whose name I won’t mention for privacy. I really like the father and speak to him often. I took them a bottle of wine when them moved in to establish good relations and as a small bribe to allow us to re-top the trees when needed as they do now. Unfortunately my neighbor Tom decided to cut down some trees on their property without permission so he could see part of the ocean as well. Their propery is massive and has somewhat of a small forest in it. Well, my neighbor didn’t appreciate that and confronted Tom in a nice way. That concerned me as I wanted to keep up the best of relations to not only be a good neighbor but also in the interest of my view. I asked if it would be OK to re-top the trees some months ago and it seemed like he was amiable to the idea but I need to ask and take action so am a bit anxious about doing so. The view however is extremely important so I’ll do it when I feel the timing is right.
Anyway, that is the story of my neighbors woven in the passage of time. I plan to be here for another decade, writing in my blog but one day my post will be from Japan and I’ll be reminiscing with a bottle of sake about my time in Pacifica and how nothing is ever permanent.
*Update 11.12.2024 – Tom has left
Just an hour ago Tom and his, now ex (not naming for privacy), both left for good. I work from home and today am on my second story perch of a workstation which overlooks the street. I heard Tom and his ex talking, but did not expect they’d be leaving for good today. The last thing I heard was the ex saying “You’re not taking that basket,” and Tom replying “Well, what are you going to do with it?” I didn’t hear the reply. They were on good terms but I guess things got a little tense at the end. Upon hearing this, I wondered, who cares about a basket? But I guess a stressful situation like that could make everyone a little tense.
Soon after, our doorbell rang with an Amazon delivery. We saw ‘the ex’ putting something in the trash and she let us know Tom had left and she was leaving soon. It was a little awkward because my wife could see that she was crying. She left for good about 20 minutes ago.
Now, the house stands empty. No longer will we hear Tom’s voice which always carried, the cry of the dog Murphy which always sounded like someone getting murdered, nor the sound of an alien craft which was always the ex’s Tesla. It makes me sad. I may go have a look over the fence at that empty house and yard. Tom put so much work into it over the 14 years we’ve been here that it never seemed to end. I thought one day he’d stop working on it and just enjoy it all but it appears he enjoyed improving his home, not enjoying what he had created.
In a similar vein, I learned that the family of a childhood classmate, former friend and now acquaintance have sold their home in Columbus. This severs the last link to Columbus as all the kids have moved to other states. They arrived when I was in the second or third grade from an Asian country and became part of our community. Now, that link is gone and who knows if I’ll ever see any of them again.
Time goes on and everything changes. Everything seems permanent for a while with only small changes and then one day you realize nothing is the same at all.
