The Herd That Lives Above Me

Gallop, gallop, gallop. Stump, stump, stump. Jump, jump, jump. Run, run, run. That's what I hear every day from about 3:45 pm until the herd retires for the night. There are three people who live upstairs. One is an adult who walks like an elephant. The other two are elementary school girls who haven't been taught that you don't run, jump, stump, or gallop when you live upstairs from a neighbor. This poses a problem for me because I can either ignore the noise which I have been doing for years, or I can ask that they settle down and thereby cause hard feelings. The fact that there is a huge patio box outside my front door and 2 bicycles under the stairs is equally annoying. Oh, to live in a single family house with no neighbors above or below me. What a fine arrangement it would be to have neighbors who lived far enough away so as not to disturb the peace. My dream is to live in a house at the shore where the only noise I hear at this time of night is the ocean waves breaking on the sandy beach. When children and other people are heard during the day enjoying the sun and the water, voices in the distance, talking and laughing. Where the running, galloping, stumping and jumping are done on the silent sand or on a sidewalk or a boardwalk, not above my head. That is my plan for when "my ship comes in" until then I'll turn up the tv or the music and hope for the best.