Should I Be Concerned?

I know it sounds like I'm trashing my neighbors all of the time, but well, this is a small community and neighbor-watching is what is done here. When you see odd behavior (and really that's about ALL you see here) the mind automatically tries to figure our what's up - at least mine does. 

So, getting to the point, last night about 10:30 Toby (my extra-large German Shepherd) sat at the French doors that go out back onto the deck and growled and eventually started barking. I opened the blinds and looked out and didn't see anything. But Toby started growling again so I looked out again and this time I saw movement in the yard next door (neighbors to the North). I opened the door and went out onto the deck and realized that a vehicle was parked back there in the alley and two men were moving some kind of material from the back yard into the vehicle. I couldn't really see them all that well - it was dark and they didn't have any lights on the vehicle at all and only the back porch light of the house was on - but I could hear two male voices. Now, the last 2-3 days the contractors have been at both of our homes doing our roofs, so there might be left over materials like shingles or whatever out there, and technically if they are done with the work and material is left over, it's yours to keep or do whatever you want with it. But why would you haul it around at 10:30 at night? In the dark? 

I should point out at this point that this is not the first sign of bizarre behavior we've been witness to. The oldest boy next door has begun using his bedroom window as an alternate entrance to his room. My husband caught two girls crawling in his window one day and they were laughing and giggling hysterically the whole time - especially since they were falling all over themselves getting in. Later that day after I got home, I was letting dogs out and when I turned around to look, the guy (who graduated this May) was smoking a joint out his window. How do I know it was a joint? Well, I guess I don't know-know, but it was skinny - thinner than a cigarette, had no filter, looked irregular and kind of bumpy, and he was holding it between his thumb and index finger close to his lips in the classic pose. And then there is the fact that when I came back to my back door he had moved away from the window and was hiding behind the curtain. Both his parents smoke and I've seen him smoke out on their front porch, so if it was cigarettes, why suddenly hide?  So the girls climbing in his window that morning were probably high, which would explain why they found everything SO funny. Now, he has placed a step ladder outside his window to make it easier...yeah.

After the hail storm, I subtly brought up the subject of the step stool to his mom when we were both in our back yards one evening by asking if they damage to his room from the hail and mentioning that I noticed the ladder. She just laughed and said "Oh yeah, he thinks it's fun to go in and out of his room that way."  "Really? And do you also think it's funny that he's smoking weed out his window?" is what I wanted to say. But I didn't, because more likely than not,  the answer to that question would have infuriated me. But really,  how smart is that? Smoking weed when your next door neighbor is a cop? 

So, now that I have observed some strange goings-on with two of my neighbors (remember the holes?), should I be worried? Am I in danger of crossing over and behaving oddly? Nah! Walking around my yard taking pictures of the sky, trees and plants at all hours of the day and evening surely wouldn't look strange to anyone observing me from inside their house, right? Not even if I'm in my jammies with my hair all awry? How about if I'm lying on the front yard with my camera taking a picture of a morning glory? Would that raise a few eyebrows? It might...then again they're all bonkers with their own issues, so maybe not  :) With one exception, I should qualify - my neighbor to the south is a lovely woman and she knows exactly what I'm out there doing, and she doesn't think it's odd at all. And she is probably the only sane one on the whole block. So hope remains for me after all!

So here's a shot of the Morning Glories in question, although they might not be actual Morning Glories. They aren't on a vine and they grow close to the ground. They might be a weed, but I don't really care. They are exquisite and they only open in the shade of the morning and close later when the sun hits them after a while so I'm calling them Morning Glories.