Judgment and Jealousy

So, you’ve seen the big picture window in my office that I mentioned often distracts me during my work day?  Today, I was taking a break from work, browsing through OD and a random sampling of photography articles, and something outside caught my eye.  We don’t get strangers in our neighborhood very often.  We occasionally get the misguided driver who’s taken a wrong turn onto our dead-end street, but for the most part we just see the usual suspects walking their dogs, riding bikes, and taking their kids for a stroll.  Well, today I saw someone that was certainly suspect.

Our house is right at the end of the cul-de-sac, so I can see straight down the entire length of our road.  An unfamiliar man popped out of one of the side streets on foot, walking slowly and peering at everyone’s houses.  He was a large, burly man, with gray hair and bushy beard.  He kind of looked like a biker, like he should be wearing a leather vest and boots and sitting on the back of a custom cruiser.  He could have definitely been considered intimidating.

I sometimes feel like the neighborhood watch.  I mean, I’m home all day long, I have a perfect view of every single neighbor’s house, and by nature, I’m always on the lookout for anything that just might not be right.  I watched as the man strolled down the middle of the road, heading in my direction.  I didn’t think too much of it… until he veered into my neighbor’s yard across the street.  He walked up to her back fence, looked over both shoulders, then peered over the privacy boards.  I sprung from my chair to get a closer look at him through the window.  I mentally noted what he was wearing, how tall he might be, how long his hair and beard was.  He made his way back to the street and continued around the bend.  Just as I lost site of him around Chuck’s truck in the drive, I heard him call out a name…

… and then I saw a little chihuahua pop out into the street a ways down the road.

I felt so stupid.  I didn’t used to be so judgmental, especially based on appearances.  The man had not yet noticed his little dog, so in an attempt to make things right with the world once again, I took my happy, unkempt, unshowered ass (no seriously, I looked gross) right out into the street and introduced myself to… my new neighbor.  He was super friendly and talkative, and he walked right up and shook my dirty hand.  He and his wife just moved into the neighborhood a month or so ago.  We chatted for a few minutes, I pointed him in the direction of his lost little dog, and I watched as he scooped her up and headed back inside his new house.

God, I felt like a jackass.

In other news, I’m having a fit of jealousy right now.  As I mentioned yesterday, Chuck is in New Jersey on a business trip.  Well, the unit he was teaching wrapped up a day early, and he doesn’t fly home until tomorrow.  He basically had a free day to do some sight seeing.  So where does he go?  Manhattan.  That bastard.  Though it is kind of funny if you know Chuck.  I mean, the boy is adventurous, but put him in an airplane or piled up traffic and he freaks the fuck out.  He actually has a prescription for anxiety medication because he panics so bad.  What in the hell made him think driving in New York City was a good idea, I’ll never know.

He’s called and messaged periodically throughout the day.  So far, he’s seen the Statue of Liberty, the Sears Tower, and Times Square; he’s visited the theater district; and he’s drank a pint of Guinness in every historical Irish pub that I could find on Google, including one called Hurley’s.  In fact, at this very moment, he’s at Paddy Reilly’s, the pub featured on Ghost Hunters this past St. Patrick’s Day.  He even somehow convinced the staff to take him into the basement to show him all the ‘haunted’ areas.

And wouldn’t you know that he didn’t take a camera?  I mean, what in the world would he need a camera for in Ft. Dix, NJ?  At least his iPhone takes pretty clear pictures.  He’s been snapping away, and sending me the good ones.  I so wish I was there to experience it all with him!

Ah, well.  Another time perhaps.

Cheers!
Felina