ly, with its special working relationship, the
neighborhood community was the chief social unit for the farmer. It made
available services the family could not provide for itself and added
sociability and security to the farmer's life. It also had some
influence on the tenor of his work because a dynamic community spirit
prompts individual enterprise. The Floris neighborhood on which this
study is focused was such a vigorous community. Fairfax County was
filled with similar crossroads which gave an identity to each farming
area and, with post office, blacksmith and general store, fulfilled the
farmer's simple requirements. Floris seems to have shown an
outstandingly progressive impulse, however, and a social interaction
which made it an area of particular cohesiveness and community
longevity.[222]

The root of community interaction is neighborliness--an interest in and
concern for other people. Villages contain the same variety of human
relations and personality as large cities, with the advantage that the
smaller number of people are more easily known and understood. There
could be irritating aspects to this (privacy was not always available in
abundance) but also a warm familiarity. The people of Floris were so
well acquainted that each man's favorite kind of pie was community
knowledge.[223] Lottie Schneider, who grew up near Herndon, gave a
charming description of village life in her book, _Memoirs of Herndon,
Virginia_:

Everyone was interested in his neighbor. We shared our joys and
sorrows, were sympathetic to each other. When we went down the
street we knew everybody and would stop to greet each other. There
was a village atmosphere of friendliness and kindness. How often I
pause over every memory and savor again the charm of the friendly
neighbors, the school and church relationships, the simple everyday
happenings which like a weaver's shuttle steadily wove the lights
and shadows into the tapestry of life.[224]

Neighborliness went beyond social interaction; it was also the basis for
mutual aid and cooperation. Work on hauling projects, barn raisings and
emergency assistance was readily available. "If somebody got sick and
couldn't milk his cows, why the neighbors would go over and help him,"
related Joseph Beard.

I remember the neighbor next door to me had the flu, and everybody
thought he was going to die and the snow was about twenty inches
deep..