Home Alone

I have been living by myself for a long time.  I prefer not to count the number of years.  But let's just say more or less since after college.  I've never been too bothered by street noise and have a track record of sleeping like the dead.  But moving into a single family home has changed that.  Let's just call it an adjustment period.

When I lived in DC, I was pretty unfazed by the report of a shooting down the block from my condo.  Not happy, but not nervously looking over my shoulder everytime I went out. Now that I live some place with statistically way less crime I'm kind of freaking out about things that go bump in the night.  Like a racoon knocking over a trash can, or wind in the trees triggering flood lights.  Really scary stuff. 

Tonight it was my car alarm going off.  My heartrate has returned to normal after calling Jen to freak out about it to her while being afraid to go outside and see what was up. She was very understanding of my 3 phone calls, though she did mention the existence of 911 for real emergencies.

This does not feel like usually calm, rational me. I didn't realize how all those years of condo living can make you feel like being able to hear your neighbors is the way it should be, rather than a nuisance.   And how much I'd love my fully monitored security system.  Here's hoping I pass through this phase at the same speed that my nephew exhausts his interest in a new lego set.