Two years. That’s how long I had lived next door to my neighbor without ever speaking to him. It’s not that I didn’t try. I would call out to him whenever I saw him working in his front yard. He would briefly look up from his gardening, and then turn away. I tried every greeting I could think of. “Good morning, neighbor! Looks like a warm one! Have a great day!” Why We Wrote This An unexpected encounter compels this writer to see his reclusive neighbor in a new light. When that didn’t work, I tried a foreign accent. “G’day, mate! Top of the morning, neighbor!” Nothing. We are different. He seems much older and lives alone. I am married and have an exuberant 8-year-old granddaughter who spends weekends with my wife and me. He has a “no trespassing” flag in his front yard. We have seasonal greeting signs (“Hello, fall!”). He has a “beware of dog” sign and doesn’t own a dog. We have a retriever that licks everyone who passes by. Like I said, we’re different.…