Deeds

The neighbor lady bought the property across the street from us. This is a good thing because it was overgrown and the home on it is dilapidated. The roof has fallen in and the floors are like a trampoline with weak springs. Anyway this neighbor lady is probably in her sixties and her brother, who is helping her clean it up, is in his late fifties. I was actually caught up on the things I needed to do so I grabbed my gloves and walked across the street.
I don't want to come off as a saint because I'm not. I was only partly motivated by the thought of doing a good deed, but truth be told I went over there because they were burning things and I wanted to feed the fire. Not to mention the fact that this lady has done the entire neighborhood a service. With this eyesore gone all of our property values will increase. I will admit though, when we were done for the day I felt as though I had done a good thing and had no inclination to rewards beyond setting things on fire.
Through the course of our work we got to talking about the building I just built and all the things that went into it. They asked me what still needed to be done and I explained that I still had to finish the inside and wire it for electricity. Then the lady started asking me if I wanted things. Free things. (Free... that word rings like a hammer on a steel anvil.) Before the day was finished her brother had fed some free beers and we accomplished three times more than they could have on their own. The lady gave me all the free cedar sheeting I could want to put on the inside of the shop. They also encouraged me to walk through the place and take anything I wanted. I got some outlet covers, some hinges, and some nice quarter inch steel plating for future projects. There is also an old growth raspberry bush she told me to dig up. Another neighbor lady walked over and asked me if I wanted some tomato cages. I was about to pull out one of the old windows to put into my shop when her brother said, "Oh you don't want that. I have a good window with a screen I will give you." Uh OK! There are a myriad of things he is going to give me and all of them I can use. The best thing I got out of it was a sense of community. It was really nice feeling part of that. They got what they needed and I got some things that I needed. Nobody felt taken advantage of or cheated. Nobody came into the situation with expectations and nobody left disappointed. We drank a few beers and sweated our asses off. We're all covered in scratches and bug bites. There was a camaraderie in this. When I see them out I will be putting my projects on hold, grabbing my gloves, and walking across the street again.  Maybe I'll bring some beers next time.