I'm afraid this story is a reflection of our times, both scary and sad.
Many of you know that I am up late into the wee hours of the morning nearly every night since retiring. I do my best thinking and inspiration comes easier. Snuffy knows what it's like to get into a creative mood and not being able to quit without completion.
Some of you also know that I try to keep fit by a routine of exercise including 2-3 miles daily on the treadmill.
So, to set the scene...it's 2:15 AM yesterday (Wednesday), I've put the computer to sleep to walk a mile on the treadmill which is in my studio facing two 4x4 foot windows that look out onto a very private yard surrounded by wooded areas. I live at the end of a dead end street and the nearest house in that direction is about 200 feet away through the woods, barely visible even in winter. The bottom edge of the windows is at least 6 feet off the ground as the studio sits high on the foundation.
I have a shelf that I made that slips over the treadmill control panel so that I can read while walking with a drafting light that bends over the reading material. Sometimes I get quite warm while walking so I may remove my shirt at times but no more, and yes, I always wear undergarments especially when exercising.
About one mile into my walk, while reading, I noticed some sort of movement or reflection in the window in front of me. A lot of things can go through your mind in a split second. First I thought it might be my own reflection, then perhaps a deer, but no, it was up high and close to the window.
Then I saw him.
There was a man, with a ski cap, folded up, holding a camera up to his face about a foot from the window about to take my picture!
As I said , a lot of things go through your mind.... am I just imagining it? It just can't be a person cause they would have to be nine feet tall to be at my level. How could this be?
Only a half second passed before I went through all the options and had to admit, yes, this is really happening.
I immediately grabbed the light hanging over my reading material and flipped it up, aiming it into his face. Realizing he was discovered he ducked down, unfortunately holding the camera still in front of his face, and turned, grabbing something and ran off into the darkness. It was then that I saw he had an aluminum stepladder with him!
That's how he managed to be at such a height.
I jumped off the treadmill and ran to my bedroom to call the police, barely able to speak with my heart pounding like crazy. It took what seemed like forever for the police to arrive but they came in force, three cars. They thoroughly walked my property and the surrounding streets. They found a pair of ski gloves with fingertips cut off on the lawn which they bagged up and took with them and ran the plates on a suspicious car that was on a back street. After about 45 minutes they had pretty much done all they could do and left.
Needless to say, I didn't sleep much last night.
I spent most of today working on making curtains for those windows, resetting a spotlight that just wasn't doing it's job and alerting my neighbors. I'm going out tomorrow to get another spotlight to install . One corner of the house isn't quite covered.
I've lived in this house for 30 years come June and always felt very secure and never imagined my very private yard would be violated. This is a highly upscale town with median home prices last year at $640,000 (mine of course is one of those that drags down the statistic). But it just serves to give notice that you aren't secure anywhere. It was obvious that this individual has been stalking me for some time to know that this was my routine, that I would be exercising at that hour, and to bring a camera and his own ladder!!!
Sorry this is so long, just needed to get it out. My folks are worried of course but I refuse to live in fear. I'm hoping his being "caught" in the act is enough to discourage any further attempts to invade my life.
Thanks for listening.
