Yeah, the north neighbors are abusive. The one woman is for sure. The older man just yells at the kids all day. Doesn't seem like they can do anything right, they're constantly being barked at for something. Sucks. Sucks for the kids, sucks that i have to listen. So i'm dubbing them the slappers.

They had another big bbq party with a different inflatable. Do they own an inflatable business or something? I didn't even know inflatables were a thing in alaska until these people. Trampolines, sure. Never seen a giant backyard inflatable waterslide before tho. I was pretty butthurt about the whole thing. 1) i get to listen to the generator + fan all day again, joy. 2) shrieking children constantly being scolded by angry adults is exhausting. 3) music i would not choose to listen to for hours. 4) people parking in front of my house and bbq in the slapper's front yard which makes ME feel like the trespassing outsider if i want to get in my car or open the garage or whatever. Why can't they hang out in the back yard like normal people? I'm starting to think it's a giant red flag when people host gatherings in the front yard. "Hello, we're inconsiderate extroverts and we want to put on a threat display of being the dominant group so you can see you are outnumbered. Let us share the song of our people on this giant speaker." It feels very primal, very "look at our large group feasting when you have no group and no feast, so therefore we get to do what we want and you get to suffer." The flippers are front yard hangout people too, so that's like two whole data points for jackasses.

It's the angry shouty noise from the adults that is the absolute worst. Generator + playing kids? No problem. But the adults' constant yelling puts my teeth on edge and is probably one of the most unpleasant sounds in the world.

I was in a pretty bad mood until i dug out my noise cancelling headphones. Not only do they block 80% of the racket, but they also remove the burden of feeling i may need to respond, because i have the option of pretending i didn't hear. The problem of hearing the shouty abusive adults is it makes you calculate at which point must you go insert yourself in the mess or lose your self respect. What is the line at which you must march over there and tell them to stop hitting and screaming at their kids (because that is sure to go super well!!)? So you're constantly on alert to sense if things are escalating to that level.

The reality is, some shouting and slaps are prob not severe enough to get the authorities to care. And if they did get involved, would it turn out better for the kids? Or would they get worse treatment from the parents in retaliation? Or would they get subjected to an unstable, worse environment if taken from the home? There's no magic fairy godmother here, gonna wave her wand and make the parents patient and kind. What's the fucking endgame.

Pretty sure i am going to be wearing my headphones most of time outside now. It affords me the luxury of cowardice, and peace, and it sends the signal that i don't like the noise that is being generated (not that they care). My dad used to get angry at me and i do not like being around that heavy formless rage, just searching for a target. It ratchets up my anxiety to the stratosphere. I mean there's a reason why i'm with someone who is super calm with almost no emotional range. He's a killjoy sometimes but that's the tradeoff to be with someone who will never shout or flip out. I put my headphones on and i can mentally remove myself from the situation. Instant mood elevator.

I don't like being a coward. I wish i had the talky skills to go over there and convince that woman to get help without stepping on her triggers, but i'd probably have to be professor x to do so. Those poor kids don't deserve the treatment they are getting. The terrible truth is, they're fucked. Aside from real honest change on the part of their family members, there is no happy ending for them. Just abuse that they internalize and pass on to their kids, for the sake of tradition.

Best i can do right now is probably just document what i witness and wait for the opportune moment. Anyone can google their address and see that they are renting the home, and that the management company listed it as not allowing pets. Perhaps they have permission, perhaps not. Maybe i can rat on them and get the puppy out, should they mistreat it. They seem to have lived at a number of addresses, so perhaps their days as neighbors will come to a natural close. Not that it will help those kids any.

I have decided having the chain link fence around the front yard is fucking awesome. Initially it did not make a positive impression, but as a territorial person, knowing that strangers who park in front of your house can't wander through your lawn willy-nilly is the best! No worries of them casually messing with my bird bath. Keeps the dogs out, keeps the kids out, keeps the inconsiderate strangers out. I still think it looks super tacky but there's no way i'd get rid of it now. See this? My territory. MINE. God bless whomever put that fence in. I had no idea it would be so great to have.

The flippers finally stopped watering the street and i got my first bird at the bird bath - a stellar's jay. So pretty!

I met the lady from directly across from us and she let me borrow a weed removing tool. So she seems nice. Three nice neighbors, one questionable neighbor and one arrrrrrgggh neighbor. Things could certainly be worse?

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous. Last weekend the trees all decided it was summer and leafed out. I am not sure it gets better than alaska in the summer (when there's no wildfire smoke). Temps are perfect, daylight 4am-11pm or so, air smells wonderful, gorgeous mountains and long sunsets. No toll roads, generally low crowds unless you are at a tourist hot spot. Want to go to the park and stare at the ocean? Odds are good you can do it whenever you want, no problem, no parking fees. The skeeters can be annoying, true, but the bugs in general are not as bad as other places. Alaska is so dominated by nature that there is this undercurrent of raw power that can't be covered up and civilized like other places. The winter will always come and it will fuck you up if you aren't prepared. There's a sense of humans being rather puny and silly in the grand scheme of things, even in the heart of the city. The mountains just sit there and laugh. Even if humanity burns the world, the mountains will still be there, laughing.

Alaska (along with many other northern latitude places) is a great place to be humbled. Nature does not whisper here. She is fierce.