There's something I've found myself doing lately. I sometimes walk into the bedroom on my second floor and look out the window. I didn't use to do that. I had family there and they would do that. They were retired but they didn't look out always. Still I had to change the blinds so that says something. I was usually amazed they knew who lived where, who was pregnant, who did what when I didn't even know. Or I would ask "is so and so pregnant" and would hear something like "...long time". While I didn't work full-time for the longest time and so was here, I still didn't look out or bothered with what was going on around here. I had houses sell on the block that I didn't even notice were for sale.
Today, I looked out and saw a pick-up truck across the street. The man in it had what looked like a cigarette and the windows was up. I was wondering why one would smoke inside a parked car with the windows up. I was also on my computer having a chat with customer support but they seem to take their times lately so I don't stand there looking at the computer. I also had some work being done and didn't want to hover around watching their every move. So I decided to see what was going on outside.
So back to the pick-up truck. I saw one of my neighbors. I think she's a nurse. We've not spoken all these years. But I've seen her wearing the navy scrubs and her hours also correlate. I've waved at her significant other, partner, husband or whatever he is. And maybe once or twice, he's made a comment while I was out there doing something. I actually thought of their daughter today as she was little and is now a teenager. Anyway, I realized the woman was putting stuff behind the truck. Not big stuff, just petty stuff. I had noticed earlier that there was something in front of the house and initially thought it was a fridge but later realized it's probably a dresser.
Soon, I realized she was moving. I was a little sad actually. I also recalled that a few days ago, I had peeked out through those windows🙄 and noticed a moving truck in front of the house. I didn't see anyone moving things into it although I didn't stand there for long. I simply peeked, saw a truck and maybe wondered what was going on. Now, it makes sense. Over the last decade, I've seen the police there about 2-3 times. I think one of those times was within the last year and recall thinking to myself that it's been a long time since I'd seen that. I don't even recall when that was. It may have been since I've FI/RE'd. But this time it seems that one is moving out. No noise, no drama, just quietly moving out. Again, kinda sad to see after all these years and with Christmas just days away. I almost thought the dog was going to be left behind but when I returned to peek again at one point, I saw it in the truck and when I came back, the truck was gone.
I later saw the man come in. Let me say I saw his car up front. He's gotten a new car recently (yeah, I noticed😒). My mother used to say that no condition is permanent. I think we sometimes take neighbors for granted. I really didn't know people when I moved here. There was an older man who introduced himself and told me his wife was a nurse. She was no more and he was teaching scuba diving part-time in retirement. He's really the only one I would chat with on rare occasions. He was a veteran and the last time we talked, he gave me information about the people who were working on the houses near me and closer to him. He's also the one who shared one time what happened to another neighbor and what happened to his nephew. They had not seen him and called the police who wouldn't break in only to find him dead when a niece finally came around. By the time I found out, it had long passed. And even then, he would still give me updates on the one who was in the nursing home. Sadly, I really didn't care to know a lot of stuff when I worked and I think he was just making small talk when he was able to catch me outside. Usually, I waved at him and maybe once a year or less, I'd stop to chat for a few minutes. So he's an older person who knew what was going on around here. Ha.
Remember that old woman on the block who seems to be looking out their window often? That's what I thought of today. I'm too young for that behavior 😉. I was thinking that this indicates I've too much time on my hands. I don't think so. I've got stuff to do. I think I was looking for a way to distract myself so that I don't stand over the shoulders of people doing work here. But I'll admit I look out more in that window now that I've FIRE'd. I think I do it unconsciously sometimes. I'll simply walk in there and look through the window to see what's going on outside. I also think it's because the room is now empty so I walk in there and peek. I think I pay more attention to what's going on in the neighborhood now that I've FIRE'd. I didn't care years ago and I couldn't be bothered to look sometimes. For example: I've noticed who was doing work in one of the houses across the street, when they usually came and when they left. I sensed the house next to me was probably sold when I saw someone coming in and going out and it was. And then I noticed it was painted. And last week I saw some guys doing more work there. I've noticed my neighbor get a new car. Just things I didn't use to notice before or couldn't even care to take notice of.
I find it interesting. It's like when I worked, I didn't have time for life and now, I have time for myself and time to find out what is going on around me. Nursing is really stressful. The 12-hour shift doesn't really end at "7:30 p.m". There were times I was stuck there longer giving report. And with the advent of Bedside Report however many years ago, when you have to give report to 5 different nurses because you are the PRN nurse who was dumped on but they think your entire team needs to be split up, report may not be done until 8 p.m. Sometimes, there was charting to do after that😫. When I got home sometimes, I was just tired. It was "eat and fall asleep". On a day off, there were times I just wanted to "recuperate" because I was exhausted. It's like I neglected things in my life - maybe even myself. I have gotten work done around here that I neglected when I worked. It's actually nice trying to make things nicer. And I have time for when people want to stop by and give estimates😀. I've taken up blogging to make some good use of my time. And I'm looking to volunteer more. There are also other things I'm doing as I tend to notice things more and live life. I'm now in the business of living.
This isn't about giving you the 411 on a fellow nurse in the neighborhood. This is about pointing out how I'm noticing life more and noticing the things and people around me along with taking care of some of the things that needed to be done here long before the pandemic. No, my day wasn't spent looking out the window. I woke up late and had to do laundry, read, get customer support, see to work being done and completed, checking on a friend and talking to her (also a nurse), cleaning and deciding I needed to eat and rest. And then I decided to blog and try out creating graphics with Adobe Express AI. I haven't used it before. I usually use VistaCreate which I like a lot. So the first graphic above is AI generated. I think it's "meh".
OK, I really don't spend much time looking out the window. But it's something I'll casually do randomly - just walk over and see what's going on outside and then turn away. Today, I did that while chatting with customer service about a product.
If you are younger than 40 and have FIRE'd, what do you find yourself doing more that you saw much older people do when you were younger? Did you ever think you would do that?
And if you are on your way to getting FIRE'd, what is something you'll be surprised to see yourself do more?
For me, it's looking out the window through the blinds. What is yours?
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