Home

Allison Plean

Allison Plean's column appears Fridays in the 4 Points arts and entertainment section in the Steamboat Today. Contact her at 871-4204 or e-mail aplean@steamboatpilot.com.

So my neighbor's an ax murderer" was a common phrase used at my last residence. Yes, one of our neighbors actually threatened us with an ax one dark night.

OK, so maybe he was provoked by my roommate's visiting brother, but axes should be reserved for low-budget horror flicks and bad movies such as "So I Married an Axe Murderer."

I never really knew any of my neighbors until I moved to Steamboat Springs. I thought friendly neighbors that you borrow sugar from existed only on primetime TV.

My first neighbors in Steamboat - who eventually became three of my closest friends - greeted us with beers within minutes of parking our U-Haul on a late night in October 2001.

I felt a similar warm fuzzy feeling when I came home one day this week to find my unsightly collection of used (yet future project) snowboards neatly stacked against the wall of my dwelling. They had been scattered in my driveway for a couple days like road kill. The stacking faerie didn't know that just the thought of picking them up after a long workday would have put me over the edge.

There are so many small things neighbors can do that have a tremendous impact. My best friend's neighbor's kids often bring her and her fiance cookies. They also have walked her dog and let them borrow large equipment like "big digging machines."

But there is absolutely no greater unsolicited favor your neighbor can execute than plowing your driveway after a big snowstorm. The courtesy plow definitely deserves more than the burnt cookies I tend to make.

The spectrum of landlord personalities also runs the gamut of personas. Most of my landlords have just been a name on a monthly check - until those nights when my roommates and I lock ourselves out on the balcony at 4:30 a.m.

I have heard legends of other such acts of landlord kindness.

My friend's friend moved into a house a few days before his lease started. Then he threw a huge party. When the landlord came by, he ran around back to hide while a famous actor urinated on the landlord's car seat.

Somehow, my friend's friend was still allowed to rent the house.

Luckily, I have the nicest landlords I've ever had. These guys actually built a staircase to my loft to replace a perfectly fine ladder, just so my spoiled dog can sleep in my bed.

With spring upon us, our neighbors are re-emerging from behind the piles of snow. If you've got some great ones, let them know. We may get to choose where we live, but we can't choose our neighbors. Hopefully you'll always have extra sugar and cookie batter, and with a bit of luck, they will all own snowblowers.