The things our neighbours do

In need of a distraction today, I painted a door. After reading Elliot's post about a neighbour who owns a Christmas-light-decked-out-star-van, it reminded me of a neighbour of mine, Dale. Dale used to live across the alley. He was an older guy - definitely one of a kind. He had a big old van he used to drive around in. We dubbed him "orange van guy". He just seemed really content driving "the ol' girl" around and around. Back in '99 we took out two trees to make room for a gravel parking pad. Dale was overjoyed because it made getting his van in and out of the garage so much easier (since there was now no more fence to risk running in to!)

One day I was trundling home with a pizza in hand to discover Dale crouched down beside his other vehicle - a half-ton truck. He was "fixin' 'er up"... there he was - I kid you not - with a tray of paint and a roller.

"Hi Dale, how's it going?"
"Not bad... just thought I'd give the ol' girl a touch up."
"Really."
"Yah, you know, those body guys charge an arm an' a leg... I don't see the need to put that kind of money in when I can do it myself."
"You have a point, Dale."
"It doesn't look THAT bad..."

...and he was happy just rolling away the afternoon in the hot sun. Funny: his niece lives in the house now with her boyfriend, Troy. Troy paints cars in the one-car garage - he's been known to use a spray gun, however. I guess paint runs in their blood. I think I'll stick to doing doors.