I received a very disconcerting handwritten note in my mailbox today from my neighbor who lives behind me. Evidently Thursday night his house was broken into somewhere between 6 and 9 pm. The note also mentioned that the cops said from the footprints in the snow that it looked like they'd cased several houses. I checked my yard, and sure enough, along the one side of my house, coming from the neighbors yard behind me, there is at least one set of adult-sized footprints running back and forth. Yikes!

I was home during that time Thursday night and actually had noticed at one point that something had tripped the motion flood lights in my back yard (which isn't unusual since rabbits and cats sometimes set them off). I can't help but wonder what would have happened if I weren't here!

I've always felt very safe in this neighborhood. For one thing, the yards are very wide open, and visible from several houses down. There are also a few stay at home parents around during the day keeping an eye on things. A couple of times, I've accidentally left my garage door open, and my neighbor actually called me at work to let me know she'd keep an eye on it.

I guess I've always been more worried about burglaries in the wee hours of the night or during the day when people aren't home. That takes some cajones to just meander through people's yards in the middle of the evening when so many people are home and awake.