After months (years?) of boring, routine sameness, yesterday was a bit traumatic, at least in the morning.

On my morning walk I went past a car parked on the main road. There was a young man inside sleeping. I almost said something to him because it is illegal in this town but went on my way. On my walk back around to the same location he had a friend with him and they were going at it in the front seat for all to see. They did have a blanket over them but the car’s windows were not tinted. It was disturbing, especially since they were parked across from a park. Again I kept going, shocked and horrified and not knowing what exactly to do. I eventually circled back around (still on my walk), and they were going at it. So, I took a quick video to document what I was seeing, and went home.

I was inside a while contemplating what to do and decided if I went outside and they were still there I would take a photo of the license plate and confront them. They were still there. So, I took a photo of the car’s plate and walked up to the window. This is when I got an eye full. The man was sitting in the passenger’s seat completely exposed. OMG. I had already knocked on the window by that time. The man quickly covered himself. The woman rolled down the window and I asked her to leave, told her what they were doing was illegal and that I had a video and photo of their license plate. She got angry, demanded I give her my photo/video and phone number and told me she could have sex in her car because it was her car, etc. Every time I tried to walk away she would try to keep me at her vehicle with an argument in her favor but I stood my ground and headed home, telling her I would call authorities if she didn’t leave. She told me she would follow me home to get my phone from me (eek!). I walked the opposite way of my home so she wouldn’t learn my address. Eventually, they sped by me and out of the neighborhood. I went home and called the police.

The police came and took my statement about 15 minutes later. The officer was very nice and thanked me for getting the vehicle make/model and tag number. He said he looked it up and it is registered to a woman who they know well. She lives on the other side of town (she told me she was from my neighborhood) and is often seen with the man I saw her with. I described them and he confirmed they were the people associated with the vehicle. He reassured me that I was not in any danger of her coming back. He said she would likely never come back to the neighborhood after being seen, confronted and documented. He told me that next time I need to just call the police straight away and gave me his card. He asked me to email him the photo and video of the incident.

I did feel much better after that but had a short cry, relieved it was over. I suck at confrontation and it took everything in me to walk up to that car and ask them to leave. I had thought of all the ways it could turn out, worried the confrontation could go wrong, and it did, but it could’ve gone far worse. She could’ve jumped out of the car and assaulted me to get my phone. She could have driven around slowly behind me, stalking me in her car to intimidate me. She did none of these things, probably because she knew I had her info and assumed I had already called the cops (I called my husband as I walked away so for all she knew I was reporting the incident to authorities). 

Of course, I went over all the alternate ways I could’ve handled the situation after the fact. It would’ve been far wiser to tell her that I overheard that someone had called the police on her and she needed to leave. I could’ve acted like I was genuinely concerned. However, seeing him exposed like that caught me off-guard and I am not one who can hide my feelings easily. I’m sure disgust and shock was written all over my face. lol

What is funny is that my sciatica pain was nonexistent after the incident. It remained so for a while. Later in the evening I was able to do downward dog and fully extend my left leg without any pain. This confirms that my pain is related to root chakra issues, something I’ve suspected all along. Of course I have pain again this morning but it was still so very nice to be pain-free if even for a moment!

I reported the incident to my HOA Board. The response was that the community was considering starting a neighborhood watch because another resident had been harassed by a homeless person recently and filed a police report. It is probably a good idea. Because of the location of our neighborhood, we get lots of migrants (homeless, hitchhikers, etc) coming through as well as petty theft incidents (ransacking unlocked cars mostly). We’ve had a lot of new people moving in, also. Unfortunately, most are young couples and families who seem completely uninterested in any kind of in-person community involvement or cooperation. They would rather post comments online, send emails and complain from behind a screen in the safety of their homes hoping someone else will fix the problem. 

Unfortunately, the visuals I have of the incident stayed with me until bedtime. I couldn’t get certain images out of my mind. It’s not like I haven’t seen any of it before, so not sure why I keep getting flashes of it. It was like a vivid dream I was trying to remember, except I didn’t really want to remember it! So before bed I asked that the thoughts be taken away, and they did go away and did not infiltrate my dreams.

I will be carrying my pepper spray with me on my morning walks from now on. It is sad, but I feel better knowing I have at least some line of defense should this woman or some other person decide to harass me. I usually carry it with me to protect my dog anyway, ever since he was attacked by an off-leash dog (another traumatic event), but now I will carry on walks without my dog. 

Not long ago I communicated my desire to relocate to my husband and was even searching for a home to purchase a bit further from this metropolitan area. My husband was/is against it, wanting to stay close to his business (we are 6 miles away) and all the conveniences that come with city living. Me, being the hermit that I am, dislike highly populated areas in general, but I have been fine with living here the past 8 years. However, lately, going shopping at all the places I’ve always shopped is unpleasant for me. The places have double the shoppers they use to, even at off-peak hours, and the energy of the places have shifted substantially. The energy is just more frantic and anxious. I just want to get in and out as fast as I can. During my shopping I sometimes have thoughts like, “I hate people”. Mostly I will sing funny songs to myself to distract from the reality of the misery of the experience. Rarely do I run into someone who is not sleepwalking through life. Their empty eyes tell all. 

The last time I felt like this I moved to Montana. LOL  

I want to live somewhere with lots of space around me – natural beauty in my backyard. I prefer a space with a pond or lake nearby. Ideally I own my own pond that I don’t have to share with anyone, but if not then at least where I encounter few to no people. Water seems to be a huge draw for me, but not the ocean. There should be a small town/city nearby, like 5-10 miles away, so if I crave company I can easily access it, somewhere with a population less than 50K. 

As for location specifically, I am fine with staying in Texas. My family is here and it is comfortable for me. But the extreme heat in the summer can get to be too much. While I love the mountains, I absolutely do not want to live somewhere that has consistent snowfall in the winter. A little here and there (like once or twice a season) is about all I can take. Also, I do not like desert landscapes. The area has to have green vegetation. 

So far I am not drawn to any one place over another, which is why I just stay put. Eventually, though, this area will be too repellant for me to stay. This I know.

Update: On my morning walk today the couple was back but parked in another location. This time all I saw was the young man sit up quickly and cover himself with a blanket. I did not see the woman and can only assume she was laying down. When I turned the corner I called the police and they arrived within 15 minutes. I do not know if the police caught them, only that two police cars arrived. My son said he saw a white police car following a silver car and the police car I saw was black. Fingers crossed that the police caught up with them and at least gave them a warning.