When you are away from home and work, returning can feel like arriving in some alien landscape. Even in the smallest ways, things shift in ways that make you feel slightly unhinged. It reminds me of reading the Heinlein book where the couple wakes up every day in an alternate universe of the same place. This morning, I've gotten to the bottom of one of the mysterious shifts that occurred while I was away during the last, oh, six weeks.
It seems that the people who live behind us had acquired a new noisemaker of the living variety. Now, I know, that is not a normal category. But here's the thing: this couple has a reputation among the neighbors for being reclusive. They are not misanthropic. They just don't mingle. And they seem not to do much outside, except the man occasionally wanders around the backyard talking on the phone. I don't think I have ever seen his wife (partner? honeybunch?). When they were moving in, I went around to introduce myself, but that was pretty much the last time we talked. Our neighbors behind and kitty corner (next door to the people who live behind us) have had a similar experience with these folk. So, the noises emanating from behind the fence had no context. I ultimately decided that they had either had a baby (never seeing the woman, it's possible she passed an entire pregnancy without us knowing) or bought a parrot. I checked with the kitty corner neighbors, and they voted for parrot, having also not seen a woman, much less a pregnant woman (and yes, I know you can get an infant without bearing one) in the vicinity. My cat certainly was voting with his whiskers: PARROT! When the noise occurs, he sits on his cat tower on the back porch, eyes wide, whiskers twitching, bird stalking crouch activated.
Lo and behold, today the whiskers were atwitch, the noises coming across the fence, and the man emerged talking on the cellphone, and what did I see on his shoulder but... a baby.
Frames of reference settled all over the neighborhood. Or at least in my backyard.
Posted by binky at July 13, 2005 11:24 AM | TrackBack | Posted to Random Thoughts