The New Neighbor Who I’m Not So Crazy About

February 20, 2014February 20, 2014 / Ally Bean / 22 Comments

A neighbor clued me into the fact that there’s a registered sex offender living on our street. He moved here, sometime in the fall, into a smaller house on the edge of the subdivision.

I went online to the Sex Offender Registry to find out what he’d done, what he looked like and his exact street address. The information about his crimes was complete. There were two photos of him, one taken years ago and one more recent photo. Then Z-D & I drove up and down the street until we located his house.

• • •

I have mixed feeling about this development. On the one hand, he has served his time and is doing exactly what the law requires him to do by registering. Perhaps there’s been some therapy along the way? He might be contrite, reformed.

But on the other hand I’m judgmental enough to not trust a 30-something, college-educated male who solicited minors online and got caught by the police when he showed up for the meeting. There’s something morally wrong with this scenario that I’m not sure I can overlook.

• • •

Thinking about it all, my negative attitude might be a bigger indictment of my inability to forgive than it is an accusation against him. Clearly, I haven’t yet figured out how to process this information, as this is the first time, to my knowledge, that I’ve lived near a registered sex offender.

I’ll let you know if/when I shift into a more forgiving point-of-view, but in the mean time, I think that I’ll just keep my distance from that end of the street. There are plenty of other directions I can walk around here. No need to tempt fate with an accidental meeting.

My Own Version Of Lady & The Tramp

February 18, 2014 / Ally Bean / 13 Comments

I almost feel bad about this.

I mean, it’s never my intention for my actions to cause any creature to get upset. I’m not one to stir the pot just for the heck of it. I’m one to glue the puzzle pieces together to make things whole.

However…

Our neighbor’s dog, who looks just like Lady from the Disney movie, Lady and the Tramp, is a pretty cocker spaniel with impeccable manners. She usually sits on her front sidewalk, watchful and quiet; or patrols up and down her driveway, checking out the suburban scene around her house.

With nary a woof-woof.

Sadly, she has not taken this extreme weather in stride. In fact, more than once this winter she has barked her displeasure with me as I trudge diagonally across our snow-covered front yard to get to our mailbox. Granted as I’m doing this I’m wearing a huge parka, hat and scarf, so maybe she thinks that I don’t belong over here.

That I’m a tramp of sorts.

All I know is that she makes it clear to me that she believes that I’m breaking decorum by not using our [currently ice-covered] concrete sidewalk and driveway. This makes her uneasy, I sense. Worried. And in need of telling everyone within a five block radius about my lack of good manners as evidenced by my tramping through the snow.

Who knew that this breed of dog could be so loud?

Photo Source: American Kennel Club

Who Needs The Green Flash When You Can Have The Orange Smudge?

January 30, 2014February 12, 2016 / Ally Bean / 10 Comments

I. Anyone who has ever spent any time in southwest Florida standing on the beach looking at the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico, knows that there’s this thing called the green flash. It’s a phenomenon wherein a sharp line of emerald green flashes across the ocean horizon the second that the sun disappears.

~ • ~

II. For the last few weeks, Ohio has experienced sub-zero temps that have made life [shall we say?] interesting. Since the arrival of this arctic weather, there’s been one aspect of it that has charmed me. Almost every night at sunset when I look out the window across our deck through the trees to the neighbor’s houses, I see a beautiful shade of orange on the horizon.

~ • ~

III. While not as spectacular and dramatic as the Florida green flash, this delightful Ohio-in-winter sunset phenomenon has a quiet magic of its own that is more in keeping with the low-key vibe of this state. And as such, I believe it deserves a name, too.

So it is with the foregoing in mind that I’ve decided to take it upon myself and name this phenomenon. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Ohio’s answer to the green flash. Around here, it’s all about the orange smudge.