Stranger things, I suppose

Nosiness is not becoming, BUT it is a fact of life. I hate to stereo-type this way, but I would say women are far nosier than men, which puts the wife and I “in the know” about all sorts of things we have no business knowing! The problem with us being “in the know” happens when we suddenly realize we don’t know something fairly important. Would you consider it important?

A few months ago, I blogged about the neighbors having their home remodeled. Well, I suppose I blogged about sitting out on the balcony at 2 am and realizing the contractors were working that late next door. Anyway, the point is… our neighbors and our curiosity when it comes to them.

The neighbors to our right are known to our family and friends as “the vampires.” We call them this because before the remodel job, our kitchen window looked straight into some unknown room of their house. Hanging on the wall in this unknown room was a vampire. Now please keep in mind, I am home alone way too much for my liking AND I happen to have an odd fear of vampires that stems from the few years of my childhood that were spent in England.

I’ll never forget the night I was standing at the sink, rinsing off the dinner dishes before I loaded them in the dishwasher, when I looked up and saw this THING hanging on the wall. A few short thoughts went through my head like “It’s not Halloween…” or, “Maybe it’s a fun thing for the grandchildren…” etc, etc, etc. Suddenly, while I was staring at that thing on the wall, the woman who lived there passed by the window. She had long white hair done in two braids, and she saw me staring in. Honestly, I was too busy trying to figure out why someone would have that hanging on their wall to be embarrassed about her catching me looking.

When they started their remodel, we were very curious as to what was going on inside that house. There were contractors there day and night all summer long. We saw things being hauled out, and things being hauled in. We figured they must of have totally redone the house and have joked around about how we want to go ask for sugar just so we can take a peek inside. Overall I’ve not questioned our curiosity nor have I thought it strange that we don’t talk to these neighbors. I didn’t even really question it as much as the wife, when we saw the husband/grandpa of the house at the office supply store, and he ran in the other direction when he saw us. I figure he’s old, rich, and eccentric. SO, I didn’t think anything until the wife said “I think his wife must have died.”

When our other neighbor’s wife died, we knew. We made sure he was okay, and we supported him through her illness. As far as the vampires, we’ve not had the opportunity to get to know them. I would at times wonder why the daughter was over there almost every day for awhile. It did occur to me that maybe someone was sick, but I was thinking more of a mental illness… I guess due to their odd behavior. Then the daughter moved in with her little girls (who we also never see). Then they started the remodel. The wife is right… I’ve not seen the mother/grandmother in I don’t know how long. I kind of hope that rather than moving on, she’s simply moved out.

It’s just so odd to me to be so close (at least in the vicinity of daily) to people, but NOT. I don't know, maybe it's not "important" for us to know, but it's important... you know?