Friday, August 14, 2009

Insult to Injury

My neighbor found a naked man in her yard. Well, not entirely naked, she clarified, he was wearing a green bandanna. (Good thing, too, otherwise he'd be indecent.) The man was standing near the tree line of her woods. Steering her daughter away, she began talking loudly to me over the fence line, saying she was coming my way, though of course, I was not there.

Comment from Facebook reader: Whaaaattttt??? Did she call the police? I mean the green bandanna just adds insult to injury. Maybe he's one of those genius sorts who forgets pants!"

After getting away from him, she called the police. They were able to track down a man matching her description in a truck, except by now he was wearing shorts and of course, denying that he had recently been naked. The policeman disclosed that it was possible it was the man in question, and that he was a neighbor on a nearby street, but no arrests were made. They're going to run his tags.

It isn't amusing on the one hand, that I have a neighbor that obviously has some kind of issue going on. I suppose I could assume he's just now moved here from a California nudist colony and doesn't know how conservative this area is. No, that wouldn't be it - he was, according to the neighbor, only tan on the upper body, meaning he doesn't do this frequently. That leaves druggie, mental patient or sex offender, none of which soothes this writer.

On the other hand, it would be sort of amusing in a "boy, is he stupid" kind of way (and I hope he remembered his sun tan lotion on all that white skin) if I didn't have children that heard the exchange and will now not go into the back of my own property alone probably ever again. You never know, you could run into a naked man.

Living in the country, you'd not expect to have such occurrences, and indeed, I think this is the first I've heard of something like this. I'll have to start walking with my bo when I go to the creek.

Notes:
It's finally hot.

One hen is sitting on a white silkie egg my sister gave me. It's due to hatch Sunday.
One hen tried sitting on two of her eggs, neglecting to admit to herself that she did not have a baby-daddy. She also chose a bad spot - on top of some square bales - and one day both rolled away from her and fell, smashed.

15 comments:

pita-woman said...

Wow! Makes me wonder if you're mystery man was the same one I saw helping himself to water from the spigot on the patio-side of the f.h. when I arrived this morning (dare I say trying to bathe himself?). There were no vehicles around, so I don't know where he disappeared to when the boss & I both went back out to investigate a couple of minutes later.
Scary to think there might be a nut-job loose in this little community.
Scary to think th

Anonymous said...

Love your stories. I think it is great that you are schooling Wm at home. I wouldn't have the patience.

The good thing about public school, though, is the socialization, something you don't get at home.

Re: the naked man. When I was a kid, my sister and I visited the school campus during summer vacation. We saw a naked, obese man playing with himself. Eww. We fled.

Junosmom said...

Pita, glad to hear it wasn't the same guy.

Gigi:
>>The good thing about public school, though, is the socialization, something you don't get at home. >>

I'd be interested to hear what you think he might be missing. What exactly is the socialization that he should be getting from school?

Cloudia said...

get a tazer!

gigi-hawaii said...

Socialization: Getting along with a large group of fellow students. Learning enough self-discipline to sit still and focus on the lecture at the head of the room. Etc.

My friend's son stayed home until 1st grade (no preschool) and had a terrible time adjusting to the routine. He kept getting out of his chair to talk to the other kids when he was supposed to be at his desk studying. Friend told me she regretted not sending him to preschool for that reason.

gigi-hawaii said...

I might add that the son turned out okay in the long run. He got his BS from Stanford and his MD from NYU. Now he is a physician in Honolulu -- a dermatologist.

Anonymous said...

Getting out of your seat and talking sounds more like disciplinary issues and/or not following the rules more than socializing issues. My son was taught at home prior to Kindergarten and he was bored to tears when he started school. His K teacher questioned why he raised his hand if he had never been in school before. I said because I told him it was the polite way to get someone's attention. She was also confused when he already knew how to read 3-4 letter words and could count well beyond their required 10--As if it was a bad thing??

The only thing my child talked about when he came home from school for the 6 years he attended them, was how the teachers never discipline students and alot of other negative things as well.

I never once heard from him positive remarks about his day or even what they learned that day.

They do not socialize in school they just go from room to room with a group of children their same age.

When we discussed homeschooling, his first question was if I finish up my math work does that mean I can move onto something else? He said he would sit there for up to 45 minutes while the teachers would help other students that needed it. Just sitting there doing nothing. He said that happened in almost all of his classes. They would not promote or move him up a grade even though he was bored most of the years in school.

Homeschooling he is able to move at his own pace and does probably 3 times more work than he ever accomplished within a school.

Just my thoughts on the matter

Junosmom said...

Gigi: >>He kept getting out of his chair to talk to the other kids when he was supposed to be at his desk studying.>>

Isn't that "socializing"?

Anonymous said...

Gigi: >>He kept getting out of his chair to talk to the other kids when he was supposed to be at his desk studying.>>

Junosmom: Isn't that "socializing"?

Yes you are right... that is socializing(talking and making friends) is what he was attempting to do but you can't do that in schools that is not part of their routine!

gigi-hawaii said...

Sad to say, I agree with your comments about public school. But what about learning to speak in front of the class? You learn to be poised and organized as a public speaker.

My elder daughter enjoyed running for student government. She also enjoyed participating in interscholastic sport matches like soccer and relay and hurdle racing.

And then there was working on the school newspaper and school annual.

There are lots of pluses in public education, too.

gigi-hawaii said...

I might add that my daughter is now a board-certified math teacher at her alma mater. She says the best years of her life were spent at that high school.

gigi-hawaii said...

During elementary school, she was placed in the gifted and talented class. And during high school, she was in advanced placement classes (college course work).

Junosmom said...

Gigi: You must be very proud of your daughter and her accomplishments. Certainly, there are many paths to success and definitions of success. Kudos to you for raising her.

There is no need for you to defend public schools, I am not interested in debating the merits of one versus the other. We must all make our own choices, and opportunities exist for those seeking them and advocating for their children.

If you are truly interested, there are answers to your questions. Speech? There are speech clubs for homeschoolers. My daughters lector at Church, Anna speaks at 4H regularly, etc. Student government? Both daughters served on our teen council for years, Lauren was vice-president, Anna historian. Sports? My girls have been to Europe to compete on equitation teams, Anna played soccer. Gifted and talented? Not available at our public schools. My girls, however, take college dual credit classes.

So as you see, it can be had at home, which does not negate the fact that there are many, many excellent opportunities in public schools. But there is little to support your statement that socialization cannot be had but there.

I might also suggest that the world you and I, and perhaps even your daughter, has changed. There is a sharp increase in drug use and arrests in our small county affluent public schools.

gigi-hawaii said...

Thanks for enlightening me. I didn't realize there were so many opportunities for home schooled children.

Anonymous said...

Re: Public speaking... My daughter (now 6) has been participating in homeschool activities that include speaking in front of a group (almost entirely made up of much older kids) since she was 3 1/2 or 4. The advantage is that she learned to speak in front of a *friendly* group (and with a parent there, so there's no chance for rude behavior). She can learn to be heckled when she's older (if that's considered a necessary skill); in the meantime, she wasn't discouraged in her early attempts. How often does that happen in a school setting?

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