It was a Warm and Freaky Night...

I have to give you some background. I've been reading a scifi thriller called The Grays by Whitley Strieber. I love scifi. I never get spooked by scifi or any other type of book. Most gore and alien freaknoidness comes across to me as stage makeup and augmentation. (I have a theater background.) For example, the movie Aliens got to me as far as the startle reflex, but it didn't freak me out or carry over into my real life. It didn't bother me much. The Grays is different, I guess. It's got lots of aliens buzzing around people, there but not there. You never know who's human and who's not. What's gonna come at you in the dark. Another bit of background for you. I LIKE the dark. Did even as a little girl. I loved a dark room. Just ask my sister.

So last night, I grab my camera and go out on the dark front porch at about 9 pm. I'm planning to take a photo of the thermometer there that has a freaky temperature for nine o'clock at night in March, even in Missouri. Here, take a look at it:

Pretty neat, huh! I knew rain was coming for tomorrow and maybe even snow this weekend and I just wanted to take a photo of this Sign of Spring.

And here's where it gets freaky. A white pickup truck comes driving down the street, just about when I snap the photo. It slows down just as it passes my driveway, which is to the right and in front of where I am standing in the dark. The dark where this bright light just flashed.

The pickup truck slowed down. Came to a complete stop. I'm a tad uncomfortable at this point.

It sits there for a second or two. Then the driver's side of the truck opens and a man with a flashlight gets out. My comfort level is just about gone right now. I'm frozen. I'm trying to cover the glowing of my camera. I'm not "daring" to open my front door and quietly step back inside. I just stand there and get uncomfortable.

The man with the flashlight walks around the front of the truck and stands under the streetlight that sits right at the edge of our property. A little background here. This streetlight flickers all night long. Our neighbors have called the city to complain and nothing has happened. I don't remember this as I try to melt into the front porch wall. I just wonder if this man is sneaking toward me, blocked from my view by the garage, which juts out beyond the porch.

At this point, I step into the house. Not so quietly. Speed is the main thing on my mind. I lock the door and go to the front window that's the farthest from the door and sneak a peek between the curtains, carefully. The man is still there. There's another man in the passenger side of the truck. They're talking through his open window.

Flashlight Man gets back into the truck. It drives slowly down the street. I go back out onto the porch to take a couple more shots. I can see the truck's lights on the next street over. It comes back around. I don't know if it will turn onto my street again or drive off. It slows down as it gets to my street. Whoa. I get back inside the house and peek out the curtain again.

The truck drives off down the road. I try a giggle to see if I can. It's pretty weak. I'm still uncomfortable.

I gotta stop reading scifi for a while. I'm spooking myself out for no good reason. For heaven's sake. There's gotta be a rational reason for this man to be doing this. Probably a city worker. You can't check out a flickering streetlight in the middle of the day, right? You gotta drive by at night. Gotcha. I know this to be true. Still, I'm freaked out and slightly ashamed of myself. I'm supposed to be this big brave sister. Ha!

Here's a picture I took tonight. You can see the rain has come. Warren's station Jeep is sitting in front of the garage. The streetlight is visible above the St. Patty's Day flag.


I guess inside of each of us is this freakometer, ready to respond to a threat, however real or imagined, however inspired by pulp science fiction. I hope that book from Laurie gets here soon. I'm ready to read about lions and elephants and Africa in the 1930s!