Every time I go outside to my yard, my elderly neighbor comes out and tries to talk with me. Every. Single. Time. Without fail. I go out to relax and do gardening and yard work, and his presence makes me increasingly anxious & leaves me feeling particularly uncomfortable/unsafe.
He is dealing with dementia, and has become increasingly vulgar and outspoken, and even made some vastly inappropriate remarks about his wife & my other neighbor while my child was right there.
His wife is tired. I know this. Christ, I would be, too. He was kind of insufferable even before the dementia got bad (think him talking about his shitty political views), but, god… I am so tired of babysitting him while I try to unwind in my own yard. He’ll talk over the fence or simply waltz past it and follow me around while I try to do stuff or as I’m trying to talk to my kid.
One thing I know is this: do not piss off your neighbors, because, chances are, you will probably be living next to them for a looooong time.
What can I do? I just want peace without feeling like I’m being accosted.
In your situation, I would try giving him something that needs to go inside or something to share with his family. It’s harder to stay outside chatting when you’re holding something awkward. Next time he comes out, do a little polite small talk and then try offering a bowl of potato salad or some other food or dessert that’s somewhat heavy or needs to go in the fridge, and you’ll simultaneously be both a nice, kind neighbor and have an excuse to constantly nudge him to go back inside. “That’s pretty heavy, you should get that inside”, “it’s been nice chatting but you should go put that in the fridge”, “I bet your family would like to try that, do you want to see if your wife wants some?”.
Maybe he’ll go inside and then come back out again, but if it works you have an “out” that keeps things friendly. It’s worth trying at least once to see if it works.