the Angie’s List Blue House Blog

Uh-oh…am I the dreaded nosy neighbor?

Now, I won’t go on your side of your privacy fence to sneak a peek (as Kristy’s did), and I won’t go out of my way to bother you with idle chitchat while you’re doing yard work (as Mandy’s does), but I do pay attention to my surroundings.

I like to think it’s the “reporter” in me, paying attention to patterns and noticing if anything is out of place. I mean, it’s not like I’m camped out in my driveway with notepad in hand keeping detailed entries on the comings and goings of my neighbors — who has time for that?!? But, if I’m out watering the flowers or picking some tomatoes (yes! I had success this year with my tomato plants!) and I notice something out of the ordinary, I’m going to take note.

For instance, one of my neighbors is a complete mystery to me. Granted, I’ve only lived in my house for a year, but during that time I’ve put together quite the dossier on the shirtless man next door. He’s a single guy who – I’m convinced - lives in his garage. He has a very large house with lots of windows – none of which have any curtains or blinds.

Now, normally an un-curtained house is a nosy neighbor’s dream. On any casual late night stroll you’re able to glance in and see exactly what’s going on. Nope, not with this guy. There’s never a light on; he even removed the light bulbs from the street lamps outside his house. Hmmm…what does he have to hide? Maybe he’s an international spy. Uh, who lives in his garage. (By the way, I’ve never seen the garage door open. Ever.)

I could go on and on about the quirky little details I’ve noticed about my neighbors. I wonder about the family across the street and how, despite having three children, they only bring one tiny bag of trash to the curb on trash night. Where does it all go? Or the guy who lives catty-corner from me and uprooted a portion of his perfectly good lawn and replaced it with white gravel. What was his motivation?

I can only assume they have their theories about me too. “There she goes again, chasing her kid through our yard. Geez, why doesn’t she put him on a leash?” They can speculate all they want. Everyone has a right to think whatever he or she wants about another individual. I just hope they don’t start going through my trash. Otherwise I may have to dispose of my double-agent evidence by some other method.  Good thing they have hauling and dumpster services on the List.