Life in a Fishbowl

Remember my old blog "The Fishbowl Chronicles"?  We still live like that...in a glass house, apparently.

I'm not complaining, there are some good things about being "watched" I guess.  We live in a rural area with no close neighbors.  But everybody out here knows everybody else.  Plus working with the postal service means you know everybody and are known by everybody in the zip code.  Most of them drive by our house several times a day to work, to school, to the grocery store, the bank, to wherever.  All roads lead past our house in this town it seems.

The truth is that we can't step out of our front door without somebody saying later, "I saw you and Bruce leaving the house/getting out of the car/unloading groceries/cutting grass....etc".  Who would have thought our lives were so interesting?  LOL.  If Bruce sneaks out to smoke a cigar (not something I condone, but what can I do?  He's grown...), somebody reports the incident to me later.  If we have company, I am asked who was visiting and did we have a good time?  If we have something new like furniture or appliances delivered the whole area knows and wants to ask what it was, where we bought it, how much we paid....and on and on it goes.  I can't walk out to the mailbox without a passing acquaintance honking as they drive by.

So today this guy stops by and talks to Bruce.  He has a nursery business in nearby Grifton, he deals in trees and shrubbery and stuff.  Bruce is planning to contact him later to see about maybe buying some magnolia trees for the yard.  I LOVE magnolia.  It's so specifically southern.  But anyway, this man asked permission to cut some of the flowering greenery out of the bushes that line our driveway.  Bruce hates those bushes.  He has tried to kill those bushes in every way imaginable.  They are hard to cut around when mowing the lawn, and they harbor bees when blooming.  The man did floral arrangements and wanted to use these branches for some sort of wedding arrangements...?  I don't know, I didn't talk to him, but Bruce gave him permission to help himself to all the branches that he wanted.

True to form, in under 10 minutes my phone was ringing.  It was Doil who has worked with me for years and years.  Our joke is that he has been with me longer than any of his wives (which would be 3.  2 exs and the current Mrs. Doil). He said he was just driving by my house (of course) and spotted a man lurking out there in our bushes and Doil didn't like it.  LOL!  He said the bush lurker gave him bad vibes.  So I guess that's the upside of being under such scrutiny.  People see everything that is going on.  I assured him that we knew the guy was out there and it was ok, but then....I just had to have a good laugh.  You know what?  If I got creative, I bet I could have a whole lot of fun with this fishbowl situation.....if they are going to watch, maybe we should put on an entertaining show.  Ha!