Nothing good happens at 2 in the morning. That’s when I’m out most mornings with Wiggles doing our first walk of the day. We both enjoy it. It’s dark. It’s quiet. We have the entire street and both sidewalks to explore. We see families of deer, dozens of bunnies, bats, and occasional owls.
There are very few people out at that time. On weekends, I’ll recognize one or two people coming home after the bars close. I assume they are workers because I recognize their cars. I’ll see the street light repairman making his rounds occasionally.
It’s always fascinating when I see one of the houses lit up. I know when someone can’t sleep. The TV will be projecting lights and shadows or they’ll be sitting in front of a computer screen tapping away on the keyboard.
Once in a blue moon, I’ll see a family loading luggage into a vehicle in preparation for an early flight or road trip.
Otherwise, it’s usually just me, Wiggles and the animals.
Except when it is not.
Last week, I heard gunshots. Crack, crack, and then 5 in a row. It wasn’t someones air conditioner making that sound. It wasn’t a car backfiring. it was gunshots. I marked the time in case I ran into any police. (I did not).
A few nights later, I walked outside to see blue lights strobing and flashing off of the houses across the street. There was at least one police car and an EMS truck at the end of my street.
That was interesting.
I decided not to walk into the middle of whatever was happening. The last things the cops need is some random guy walking a dog approaching them at 2AM during a call. Besides, there were no sirens, no signs of a fire, no wrecked vehicles and none of my neighbors out so I figured they did not need my help.
Both of these incidents were so out of the ordinary that they sparked my curiosity. I tried finding out what had happened by checking the usual sites – nextdoor, 911 incidents, and the local news. There was nothing mentioned.
And so, I’ll never know …which is exactly how it should be.
It is none of my business who fired random gunshots that could have been from miles away. Nor is it any of my business why EMS was dispatched to one of my neighbor’s homes. If either was my business, I’d know about it. There are 4 homes at the intersection where the EMS trucks was parked. I know who lives in each of the homes. I’ve waved and spoken to people in all of the homes but have never had a conversation beyond that. I know two of their names. I am certain none of them know mine.
In a world where nearly all the information in the world is instantly available, any time, on demand via Google it is kind of refreshing to run into a brick wall of no information.
I remember what that used to be like. We heard about major news, gossip and events. But minor things, you never heard about.
Most things that happen are none of my business.