Malcolm Dykes: This is What Friends Are For

There is a true crime program on the ID Channel called Fear Thy Neighbor and has documentaries that reenacts actual domestic quarrels of neighbors that lead to a fatal outcome.

Sadly, this occurs more than we like to admit throughout our great country.

Somebody crosses the line with somebody next door and they go at it.

And it's mind-boggling what ticks off what seems to be normal human beings.

Somebody's dog poops in somebody's yard or barks constantly day and night, somebody's child plays rap too loud or keeps throwing the football onto somebody's lawn.

Somebody puts a chain link fence up and after further review by the investigators had put the fence up one inch on their neighbor's line.

BAM!!

And the blood flows and the police yellow tape is stretched around the crime scene.

Thank God I have a neighbor who is a man of God, a pastor, our county constable and an EMT ambulance driver all rolled up in one.

And somehow, he finds time to sleep and even plant a garden and just as sure as they grow off, here he comes bringing to us the fruits of his labor, fresh turnip roots he dug up just for my family and I and brought them over yesterday evening.

This is what neighbors are for.

Rev./Constable Raymond Gutter is the model next door neighbor.

If I have a friend in this county, it is this fine human being.

What we have going on here is what America used to be like everywhere all over these fruited plains.

Back when I was growing up, we knew our neighbors by name and like Bro. Ray, we shared our bounty.

During turbulent weather or any kind of loss like a barn burning down would have a steady flow of help from those neighbors who came and gave a hand to get the unfortunate back up and going.

We used to have only the smaller square bales of hay to place in our barns for winter forage for our livestock and you guessed it, a common sight was to look up and see your neighbor and young'uns coming to lend a hand to get the bales undercover before that rain hits.

We waved in passing and even sat on each other's front porch to share a cup of coffee or a glass of tea.

Yeah, we really did have neighbors like that here in Walthall County in the 50's and 60's when I was leaving my childhood tracks here and there.

May the goodness of Rev. Raymond Gutter spread like a good case of Covid from stem to stern and from sea to shining sea.

Because from what I read in the Good Book, that's what neighbors are for.

God bless you and God bless America.