When can I have a quiet break in the startling events in life and just enjoy the laziness of normal, boring, noninvasive life events?
Audacity of those who think it's okay to wander into someone's yard in the early hours of the night and start rummaging through things and trying to break into the garage door.
Warrior or flat out stupid, I am not certain; but, the three young 20-somethings won't be coming back in my yard any time soon.
I was right to put cameras all around my home inside and out. When the alarm went off on my phone just after 1 am this morning I honestly thought it was our bear, or the coyotes that wander around here at night. I keep a loaded 12-guage with deer slugs near a loaded 20-guage with turkey loads right near where I sleep these nights...because I just never know.
Basically, the cameras were placed so if Dad wandered off I'd know which direction to start looking.
With the use of the bed alarm I am woke when he tries to get up at night and that worry is backed up during daylight hours because with the app on my phone I can see where he's at and cut off any mischief before it starts. A great stress reliever having them in place.
Under my state's laws, I have to post for visitors that the house and property are under 24-hour video surveillance. These three young men are either blind, stupid, a word I dislike, or trying to test those signs...I'm fairly certain the braver of the three pissed his knickers this morning when he heard me touch the trigger off on that 12-guage...it makes a loud bang. Being a 44Mag it will drop a 600# bear at 50 yards; yep, fairly certain I woke up the neighborhood.
Calm and collected on my inside too.
To my shock, they didn't run, so I politely told them the police were on their way and they had one of two options...get gone and stay out of this neighborhood, or stick around for the police to get there. It didn't take them long to decide to go. I walked them out to the road from about 10 yards, Maggie is good at intimidating people. lol.
I told their fearless leader that when addiction & money become more important than your Cornflakes, don't be surprised when someone pisses in your flakes.
They all got to getting to their car parked across the street. If I had talked even two minutes more the troopers would have arrived with them still in my driveway.
In our little rural community we don't have to call 911 before acting like Annie Oakly, lol, we know one single shot means help and then we will call for that person. The State Troopers are here within 5-10 minutes. It's that dicey time when things can go terribly wrong fast...luckily, the local townies know not to test me on it.
I don't care for reputation or a lack for one, but some folks in town know me long enough and we'll enough that they know I won't play. I don't like the feelings that come with all that real life antics. People will be people all day long, I just wish they would reach a tad higher.
I'm all for folks who are trying to break habits and addictions. We are a town that offers a quiet space for recovery. We also have too many homies that get messed up, wander around town, often passing out in someone's lawn, knock on a door at 1 am wanting a ride home, but they don't break in people's houses and out buildings.
This new crowd of theives are dirtier.
Since 2018, the increase of 'gangs' in town has increased. We currently have three 'bikers clubs' squaring off in the area, and the injection of what I call higher level drugs and their makers/sellers has all the local pot growers really pissed off. Mainly because the cops have left them alone for decades and these new meth, heroin, crank, feytenol, etc. 'dealers' has the cops watching every one. The town legislation has put a State Troopers outpost in the center of town because it has become so thick with crime. It's a mess.
I've stated publicly numerous times that I won't have it in my neighborhood.
Not only do I have my responsibility to ensure Dad's safety, but within a 3-degree separation I have 2 widows, a spinster, and an over 70's disabled couple...prime pickins for hoodlums.
That was my story to the troopers this morning.
When the one asked me why I had my shotgun, I told him about the bears. He agreed, when you have hungry bears they don't know what your front door is if they want something on the other side of it...neither do addicts looking for something to pawn.
It was an interesting morning and thank goodness Dad slept through the whole ordeal! The cameras picked up them coming in the yard, great face shot of the one trying to jimmy-open the garage door, and an even better shot of the get away car as the trooper put it.
Thankfully, they didn't get anything from here. I have everything locked up to keep Dad safe from himself, and they would need a smithy to get in, lol
Having a short conversation with the troopers while I was printing still shots took the stress out of the situation. Because the ordeal did stress me a bit after every thing was secured.. He complemented me on my remaining calm, and I laughed. He asked why I laughed, and I explained that most think I'm half crazy when that calm reserve is but a by-product of all the similar events over the years. I went on to tell him that it puzzles me why I have to relive silly shit like this morning and how I'll waste the rest of the day trying to figure out why history keeps repeating itself and wtf am I missing to get that "crazy attraction energy" to move away from me ... and that's where I lost him.
I could tell he had no clue what I even meant by that statement.
It's often too easy to write someone off as crazy because of our own limiting experience.
North Side! 
precious ❤