My bedroom window looks down from atop a hill. I’ve seen pool parties and snowball fights, late-night arguments and make-up makeout sessions. I live up high, most of the neighbors live down low. The only way to avoid seeing people’s lives would be to keep my blinds closed. Which is a no.

I had new neighbors down “in the valley,” as those of us who lived on the hill called it. They were a young couple who had bought the house with the big in-ground pool and a hot tub.

It was a dry winter, and they’d hired someone to come and repair the gazebo and install an in-ground firepit. It was a flurry of activity down below that I enjoyed watching as I got ready to go to work or prepped for evenings out.

The weather was slightly mild for December, and I caught them once or twice... Read More