A pumpernickel recipe and one new neighbor

Anna Jones is looking out her window. It’s actually been a new habit of late. In fact, she has been looking out her living room window more these days than in all the years she’s lived in this neighborhood. The crazy thing is, it’s not a bad thing.

A year ago, it was a different neighborhood. The one outside her living room window now, is the improved, and new version. One that hardly anyone recognizes. Anna moved into this neighborhood twelve years ago. Back then it was not as run down. However, through the years things changed. It started with the small park at the center of their street. It became overgrown, and more dangerous than it was relaxing.

Similarly, the sidewalks became cracked, and weeds were dislocating whole slabs of the concrete. The drain grates never worked, and their only red light for the street showed yellow and green. Only. Of course that was balanced by the terrible condition of the street. Which used to have so many potholes, no red light was really needed. Yes, a year ago this was an entirely different place.

A Pumpernickel Recipe

Then, a year ago, a stranger moved into the empty house at the end of the street. No one thought much of it. Many of the neighbors Anna once knew were gone. They moved out years ago. Several of the houses were still for sale. Therefore, when someone new moved in, it was hard to miss. Especially this particular stranger.

Eccentric could be one description of the stranger. He was unusual. Always wearing a red coat, and black snow boots. And, he was their new neighbor. Furthermore, it was right after he moved in, that almost everything in their neighborhood began to improve. Anna still had two or three friendly neighbors, and they would gather and socialize occasionally. It was almost impossible to miss the improvements happening all around them.

First, the street was repaired. Not just over the course of a few months. Overnight. And it was exactly one week after the stranger moved in. Then, the next week, the small park was being restored. Additionally, often, the eccentric stranger would be with the workers, working and fixing. All with that red coat and those black snow boots.

And once again, it seemed like this all happened overnight. However, that was only the beginning of the fantastic things that happened, right after the stranger moved in.

One New Neighbor

So, Anna Jones is looking out her window this afternoon. She has her Pumpernickel bread and her best Pumpernickel recipe. And she intends to share it with the stranger at the end of the street. Indeed, that is why she is diligently studying the neighborhood. She must choose the best moment or it may not happen.

In fact, she would actually be the first to ever meet the stranger. That is, if she can pull off this pumpernickel recipe mission. Her fellow neighbors are waiting for her to update them on all she discovers. First, though, she has to find him:

Thirty minutes later, she is standing on the front porch of the eccentric stranger’s house. It is a very sunny day. It took almost all her nerve to ring the doorbell. Her anticipation is near unbearable. Then the door opens and she feels a bit of a surprise as a curious, but friendly, voice greets her.