Welcome to the neighborhood #1

You know, we moved to our neighborhood a year ago, and I can't say that we know our neighbors any better than we did the day we moved in.

That's pitiful.

Oh, now I can tell you all about them, probably.  I can tell you about Charles' family gatherings next door and how his cute little grandkids dressed up on Easter and had Easter egg hunts in his backyard, and how the family laughed and ate dinner together under his tent awning a few weeks ago, and how Charles seems to be losing a little weight.  We wave and say hi to him -- he seems like a great guy -- but I have no idea if his wife lives there any more, or if his health is holding up . . . and he's just yards away!

And the kid next door on the other side -- I don't even know his name, but I saw him in his graduation gown, and I congratulated him -- does that count for anything?

And across the street, I know that Richard and Elizabeth have toddlers, and a therapist comes every single day to work with their youngest.  We wave and are very friendly . . . when we're outside.

So how do you go beyond just waving?

How do you cross that unspoken boundary between neighbors to becoming friends, like in the "old days"?  I remember my neighborhood that I grew up in being like a family!  We all knew each other, and when I grew up, all the neighbors came to my wedding shower.  Even the ones I wasn't so fond of! Grin.

I want to be that kind of neighbor.  Not the kind I am now.

Anybody out there know how to do it?  Because I sure don't -- our last neighborhood held the world record, I think:  we lived there for 13 years, and barely knew our next door neighbors.

So I'm up for any advice you can give, folks!