note – i have collected these observations on my phone as rough drafts over the last 2 weeks. i’m just typing them up properly now, all at once. in future i’ll try to update more regularly.

I was coming back from some late night grocery shopping around 11pm and saw my neighbour, an elderly lady, on her porch, crouching down. Her big black dog was standing beside her. As I watched, I noticed she was reading a magazine. She seemed invested in whatever it was that she was reading by the horrible light of a distant streetlamp, and I wondered what in a magazine could be such important information that she had to read it right away, out in the cold, when her warm house was steps away? I remembered that in the past I’ve seen her snooping around neighbours’ letterboxes after dark as well. Something is very odd about this lady.

As I walked past her house she sighed, stood up, and walked in. Her dog followed her. That set me at ease slightly, but it was still disconcerting that she went inside directly as I walked by.