New Neighbors

I have been very lucky in my home owning life, all of my neighbors have been great. We look out for each other, pick up mail, mow lawns when the others can't, things like that.

The house diagonally across the street from me was for sale for over a year. Last week I noticed the sign was down and assumed they took it off the market until spring. Then yesterday, two cars were in the driveway and I surmised it had sold (or rented). Sure enough, signs of life started to appear - people cleaning windows, trimming bushes in the front yard, truckloads of furniture were unloaded, and...dun, dun, dun...a dog was heard.

The dog, (a beagle, my least favorite breed ever), could be heard, with the door and windows closed, in my bedroom in the back of the house. The temperature in these parts in the middle of this January is about 70 degrees, which means storm doors and windows were open, so you can well imagine.

O.M.G.

Beagles don't bark, they bay. Hunting dogs, they're bred to be heard over long distances. My uncle in Georgia had a pack of the standard size. When I was three, for no reason apparent to me, as I walked up the porch steps, one came out from under the house and bit me; the reason they're not my favorite, aside from the noise.


This is a very dog friendly neighborhood; there's a dog next door, across the street, up the street is Samson, the blue nosed pit (a lovely gentleman), Jane, (the former home owner), had three dogs. But they are all well behaved, quiet dogs.

They got a pass yesterday; you're moving furniture, the doors are open, you're keeping the dog in the backyard out of the way, I get it. But the barking went on for HOURS (why do dogs not ever seem to lose their voice?!). Where other people say - awww, poor dog, I just want it to STFU. NOW.


Noise affects me viscerally. As a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), I am "...more overaroused by levels of sensory stimulation that do not bother others." People near me sneezing suddenly, high pitched whistling, those f%*&ing cars with the loud bass speakers, repetitive sounds (dogs barking), many people talking at one time - I literally feel those things in my body. In the case of many people talking at once, I hear ALL the conversations. I cannot turn some off and only hear one. It creates a flight or fight response and makes me instantly pissed off; it hurts my head and my stomach.

Yesterday afternoon, my stomach and neck got tighter and tighter as the hours wore on. I imagined several really inappropriate scenarios involving punching.

Anon CP kept me semi-distracted texting about our shared Viking ancestry - inventing hand signs and a motto.

Finally, after about four or five hours (an eternity!), it stopped.

This morning I saw three motorcycles being unloaded.

Oh joy!