I See You!
Although I love Portland’s mild winter’s, the one thing that I do notice is the dark – the daylight hours here are considerably shorter than they were in my more southern (but NOT south!) homes of Kansas and Iowa – so the whole driving to and from work in the dark can be a real bummer. But for this year – that time has passed – the sun is almost peeking up as I go into work – and it’s definitely still light when I’m headed home.
However one thing about the evening light does make me a little sad. It makes it much harder to peek into people’s windows.
Now get your finger off 911 – I’m no Peeping Jane – I’m at least as far away as the sidewalk – and I never linger longer than it takes for my dog to do his business or the traffic in front of me to move, but I’ll confess I love walking or driving past people’s homes in those twilight hours when it’s dark outside, but lit up inside – and they have yet to pull the blinds.
Just as it’s fascinating to observe people in public – I am even more enthralled with seeing them in their homes – how they’ve decorated, if they’re sitting around a dinner table, or with the size of TV’s these – you can even see what shows they’re watching from the street. Is there an entire family in one room – or is there light and activity throughout the whole house. Are the people young or old – does it look like there are kids or dogs or joy of joys – they’re having a party – it’s almost too much to take in as I go by!
My husband thinks I’m nuts when we’re driving down the street and I go “hey – they’re watching that great movie we saw last week!” , “wow – they eat dinner really early” or “Oooo – I really like that lamp.” (However since I’ve started driving more lately and he’s in the passenger seat – I challenge him to avoid doing the same thing!)
The best neighborhoods are those where the homes have big picture windows – not only better viewing – but also less likely to have blinds or drapes. Laurelhurst and Irvington are two of my favorites from that perspective. Although I am also always interested watching people in offices working into the dark hours.
Am I crazy….do I need help?
Or admit….you do it too, don’t you?!
Jeez, I’m glad my husband doesn’t read this. You’re the kind of people that make him paranoid! :-) For now, I’ve won the no-coverings on the ground floor debate.
I do the same thing, because it’s fascinating to get a momentary glimpse into someone else’s life.
When I was a starving college student, I often used to wander in Eastmoreland at night, looking into all those fabulous homes. It was like looking into another world. I was so far away from even owning a home, I couldn’t imagine living in a house like that.
Of course, the neighborhood watch wasn’t usually as amused as I was.
I do look in, now, but only to try and discern what it is you found so fascinating – really! I’m more interested in watching the sky through the moonroof.
I love walking down the middle of the street on a summer night, although not so that I can look in peoples’ windows, because most people are asleep by the time I’m usually wandering.
But one of my favorite things I ever saw was at 4am, around 28th & Yamhill. It was four twenty-somethings ballroom dancing in their house with the music cranked and the door wide open. My friend and I sat outside their window and watched them for fifteen minutes.
So random, and so fun.
I’ve been peeking into people’s windows like this for ages! I thought everybody did it. In fact, it seems kinda weird *not* to be curious about the inside of other people’s homes. I lived in Holland for a while, which is prime window-peeking territory — a lot of the homes there have big bay windows and no curtains.