Love Thy Neighbor (Classic)

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

This episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast explores the diverse and often eccentric characters found in local neighborhoods. Through a series

Key takeaways

• Will recalls seeing vibrant, classic peacocks living in a neighbor's front yard in St. Leonard, Maryland.
• Johanna Mayer describes an incredible, year-round eclectic display of lights and inflatables in a Brooklyn front yard near Prospect Park.

Main topics

• Unusual neighborhood pets
• Eccentric home decor

Notable quotes

It's like every inch of this tiny little front yard is crammed to the brim with some sort of strange ephemera.

Conclusion

A charming collection of stories that celebrates the delightful unpred

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) For many of us, going further isn't a choice. It's a feeling we can't ignore. Because ambition has a way of outgrowing where it began. Turning dreams into direction. Every journey brings us closer to the life we imagine. So, where will your journey take you? Etihad. Beyond Borders. Speaker 4 (0:33) Hey all, Dylan here. So today we are sharing stories about neighbors. Stories from Atlas Obscura staff, friends of the show, basically anyone who had a good story to tell us about something that happened with their neighbors. It's got front yards, it's got backyards, it's got pets. And after you hear this episode, we would like to hear from you. We want to hear your stories about neighbors. your neighbors, the good, the bad, the ugly. Maybe there's a neighbor on your block who goes crazy for the holidays and it's just like a delight to see what they're up to. Maybe someone has an incredible garden. Maybe someone like refuses to cut their yard and lawn and like, that's cool. Like that's like, it's totally, they're just like a rebel in some suburban cul-de-sac. Maybe that person is you. Anyway, give us a call at 315-992-7902. And leave us a message telling us your name and your story. You can record a voice memo and email it to us at hello at atlasobscura.com. We want to hear your neighbor stories. All right, here's the episode. Speaker 6 (1:41) Hey, Atlas listeners. My name is Will. I've lived in New York City for 15 years, but before that, I grew up in a very rural part of the state of Maryland. So rural that where I'm from, St. Leonard, is considered a census-designated place. And when people ask me what that means, I say that it's a big enough collection of people living in the woods that the government says that we need to keep an eye on that. And where I'm from, a lot of the houses were vacation homes for people who lived and worked in Washington, D.C. And my neighbor had peacocks for pets. He had two beautifully colored, amazing, vibrant plumage, classic peacocks that would just kind of hang out in his yard. And I would see them when I would ride my bicycle around the circle. They never left. They knew not to leave. But it was the most unusual sight to see these two exotic birds just kind of hanging out in my neighbor's front yard. I could see them from my house,