neighbours

went up north last friday to drop off some of the plumbing fixtures etc at dN's parents cottage until they are ready to be installed. his parents are retired and living in their cottage while their new home is being built near by. the new place is a kit home, kind of amazing that in a matter of a few months the whole thing will be complete. the builders brought the home to the lot, pre built in three pieces. anyhow, next door to their new place, gretchen and thom have had a log cabin home. for years they have looked onto the lot next door, covered in lovely swaying trees. gretchen and thom are also retired. they are political types, he is the president of the neighbourhood committee. at first it was all smiles, nicey, nicey. but slowly, their alter egos surfaced.

they kept pushing to see the plans and pushing to have a say where dN's parents placed their house on the lot.
neighbours dropped by and mentioned that gretchen and thom were bad mouthing the new house around the hood. annoying but somewhat understandable since obviously any house is going to lose out when compared against a lot full of trees. it's an odd social phenomenon though. not only the bad mouthing but the reporting of bad mouthing back to the offended. then the drama began. everyday, thom pulled out a camera, stood firmly planted on his lot, without a word to anyone and an air of hostility, and started taking photos of all the workers and the house going up. their own paparazzi. why would he take photos of a house he loathed? it began to make the workers uneasy. at first, he was ignored and tolerated but finally, dN's mum confronted him. asked him why he was taking photos and to please stop. supposedly he was making a photo album as a gift. a nice foil but pretty unlikely given the bad mouthing and growing angst between the two sides. give the gift of stalking this year, fill your neighbour's hearts with paranoia and venom. push them to threaten to call the cops! yes, a lovely spirit of giving.

aside, somewhat related: our own german friend next door has been observed smoking out his window and butting out into a tiny gold pot sitting on the roof of the bay window. all we see is an extended arm out the window depositing ash into his pot of gold.