Unlocked Doors

Downtown Woody Point

Since we feel so safe in this little town, we do not bother to lock our doors. There is not much crime here. The crime of the summer has been the large flower pots in front of a business downtown were stolen. The flowers were dumped out. It happened in the middle of the night. Someone heard two or three men talking outside their window, but didn't think of investigating. Because of the location and because no one heard a car, it is suspected they had a boat. The general consensus around town is that it was not someone from here, but possibly someone who was staying across the Bay. Regardless it was not the kind of "surprise" you want first thing in the morning.

We have experienced a few "surprises", ourselves. The custom here is to just walk into someone's house and not bother knocking. I have literally jumped and let out a scream of fright when someone walked right in talking to me. I cannot bring myself to do that. I tend to knock and then open the door and yell hello. I usually get a response along the lines of "what are you standing outside for"?

One day when walking through town after hiking the community trail, Ken stopped us to tell us there will be a surprise when we get home. He said he had a large screen television he was giving away. Larry and Una told him we do not have a television and took it for us. He said it was at our house. It was a bit unnerving knowing that someone had been in the house when we were gone and left a television.

Another time after being away all day, we came home to find a bottle of Grand Marnier sitting on the table. Neither Mike or I had left it there. It was quite a guessing game figuring out who left that for us.

One morning I woke up and went downstairs to put on the coffee, I was surprised to find a wrapped paper plate on the counter. It held two slices of birthday cake. We still do not know whose birthday it was. Again, I felt a bit uneasy knowing someone had been in the house while we were sleeping.

Yesterday, I came home from walking the dog and found a note inside on the hall floor. It was from two tourists we had met the day before. They were just saying good-bye before they moved on and wanted to give us their email address. This time I was not phased that someone had been in the house while I was out. I was just sorry that I missed them.

Despite my feelings of occasional unease, we will continue to not lock our door. How can we? I mean people seem to be putting things into our house, not taking away. And isn't that how it should always be in life? To give more than you receive?