The big day has come when construction is complete on the new house next door on Laurel Street. Marketing will probably begin full force this week.

We could now expect the peace and quiet that has been absent from this neighborhood for 18 months to return.

Except that we’re now waiting on a contractor to arrive at our house and begin a long overdue project to replace the wood siding and paint.

What else could we do? This house has gone from eye candy to eyesore during our tenancy.
Except for Rosemary’s flowers. When I arrived here Sunday,  I had to stop on the sidewalk for a few minutes to savor the colors of zinnias, hibiscus, begonias, shrimp plants and I don’t know whatall.

While I was standing there during that meditative moment, I also encountered the wonderful a scent wafting from the sweet olive tree near the front gate.

The sweet olive’s blossoms are tiny and non-spectacular, but they produce a sweet, delicate smell for most of fall and winter.

We need that sweet olive smell here. Have you ever been walking through New Orleans’ French Quarter on a warm day and enjoyed the enticing aromas of food being prepared in restaurants all around you and then walked into an olfactory assault from garbage simmering in the heat? Our yard can be something like that. You can walk from a space delicately sweet-scented by sweet olive into an atmosphere where you become certain that damncats reside on the premises.

The space that these damncats consider theirs has now strunk — with the construction and remodeling that has taken place on either side of us over the 18 months — from three adjacent yards into one: ours. Now that that space is about to be invaded by workers, I am not sure what they will do. Knowing their nature, I doubt it will be helpful.