Flashlights in my window.

Last night, while entertaining a guest. (Wait, that sounds way too formal.)

Last night, while hanging out with a friend, listening to music and talking and laughing, my peripheral vision caught a glance of something on my wall. I looked up and didn't see anything. But a second later, it was back. A white light was moving across my wall. If I was a cat, my first reaction would have been to run to the wall and try to capture the light between my paws. Human that I am, I looked to my right and saw the source of the light coming through my window.

"Kids playing outside with a flashlight?" My friend had a good guess. It was 11:30 at night and I remember playing German Spotlight when I was a kid. Sometimes we played as late as that. It was a possibility. I went to the window and peered out the blinds but couldn't see anything.

I was ready to shrug it off and return to my favorite activity: Enjoying good conversation with music and wine. But then the rustling against the exterior began. And the flashlight was back. Milla and I looked at each other and she said, "It sounds like someone's trying to enter through the wall." Great. No more discussion about how Americans are seen overseas or how Luka Bloom creates such a good sound on his CDs. Now I had to play protector. There was a girl in the house and I had to keep her safe. I didn't hate this due to any fear; I hated this because I was annoyed.

Anyway, I figured that if she was right, I'd better not go outside and risk getting bonked on the head. I dialed 862-8600 but I didn't hit SEND. The rustling continued, and the flashlight was all over the place and I went to the blinds one last time. This time the noisemaker saw me and spoke.

"How're you doing?"

Well, as burglars go, he was quite polite. I saw that he was at the meter and had an NES hat on. I went to the door and said hi to him. He was just servicing a broken part. I offered him assistance ("Need me to hold your flashlight for you?") and he politely declined.

"OK, have a good night," I said, and I went back inside.

Late night for the NES guy. All was cool.

Imagine if my wife was home alone and watching CSI though. Do the work you have to do, I guess. But try to keep those flashlights on the meter and out of the window.