For the most part, I love my neighbors and my neighborhood here in Idaho Falls. Everyone is friendly, and we all get along. We have different hobbies, and even though I don’t see many other boats parked in driveways, no one seems to mind mine. I do get teased a little about my boat, though. My neighbors think it’s funny that when it isn’t heading to the water, you can still find me on it. I like to tinker and keep her clean. I guess that’s just the motorcycle rider in me; I love a good shine.

But there is one neighbor I had several years ago that I always seemed to bump heads with. I think it’s required by law that we all have to have that one person in our neighborhood who absolutely drives us crazy. For me, it was the guy who was just around the corner from me. We got along okay, and he’s really not a bad guy. But for years, I would cringe when I’d see him walking toward me and my boat.

He reminded me of the brother-in-law in the movie Field of Dreams who didn’t get it. In this classic film, he couldn’t see the baseball players, and because of this, he didn’t get along with Kevin Costner’s character. When it came to boating, simply put, my former neighbor didn’t get it. He would come over to my house and try to convince me that boats aren’t worth the hassle. He’d comment on our short boating seasons we have here in southeast Idaho and any other negative thing he could think of to try and convince me that boating was a waste of my time and resources. Oh yeah, he was quite the buzzkill, to say the least.

At first I’d get sucked into his debates—you know, those little witty jabs at each other where no one ever really wins. Finally, it just got to the point where he thought he was being funny, but I’d avoid him to spare the sarcastic beatdown. I guess I felt it was pointless to try and convince him otherwise, and I no longer had the strength or energy to argue with the guy.

But this changed one spring as I was loading the boat for a trip to Blacktail for the day. I caught my neighbor approaching out of the corner of my eye. I gave my wife the look of, “Here we go again,” but this conversation was very different from our past talks. He looked at me, smiled, and asked where I was taking the family. Then, to my surprise, he shared, “I probably could have bought three of these boats for what our son has cost us.”

My neighbor’s son had fallen into the wrong crowd and distanced himself from his family by getting involved in drugs and alcohol. It had cost this family more than just money as they tried rehab as well as other programs to help their son overcome his addictions.

I’ve always known what boating can do to bring a family together, but I had never quite seen it the same way my neighbor did. In his eyes, he had made the connection that because we are boaters, we’ve stayed closer as a family.

After that day, my talks with my neighbor were much friendlier. Unfortunately, this family never did join us on the boat, despite my many invites, and they eventually moved away. I hope they found the peace they were seeking. I’m thankful for what I learned from my neighbor and the new appreciation I have for the boating lifestyle.