When I was a young girl, I loved the book, Harriet the Spy. The book is about a smart and very unique girl, Harriet and her past time of carrying a notebook and spying on people. I remember that she followed her nanny around and that she visited a conservatory and another place that had velvet wallpaper. The conservatory and wallpaper memories may be false but the nanny stalking was confirmed through Internet searching. In any event, just let me have my conservatory and velvet wallpaper. Harriet, spying her way through New York City was an experience far removed from my almost semi-rural upbringing with my five brothers, parents, dog, many cats, and homing pigeons.

I too, love to observe people. I’m pretty good at it, which is not bragging because as a psychologist if I did not have this skill, I would be incompetent. On my neighborhood walks, I sometimes find myself using my observations of peoples’ homes and gardens as clues about what the inhabitants might be like. It is kind of a mental puzzle that I do without really thinking about it.

There’s a house I’ve walked by probably thousands of times in the 13 years I’ve lived here. Several years ago, I noticed that the rose garden had gotten overgrown. I could tell that it had really well taken care of at some point due to the number of different varieties. The house also looked a bit in disrepair. A couple of years later, I noticed that the yard had gotten cleaned  and new plants had been added. The house got painted and updated. I figured that the house had been sold by an elderly person who had loved gardening but was no longer able to do it and then purchased by a young couple. I used to pass their lovely yard and think, “The older lady [in my mind she was female] would be so thrilled to know that someone cherished her garden and nurtured it back to it’s full beauty.”

This is the scenario I’d developed in my head and it stayed there for a few years until two days ago. Two days ago, I actually saw someone who lives in the house! And she was working in the yard! And she was an energetic woman who looked to be in her early to mid-70’s.

Okay, my new story is that she had gotten seriously ill several years ago and then she got better. Now she is enjoying her home and her garden more than ever!

The rose garden is not yet in bloom. It can be seen in the right foreground of the photo. Also, the other side of the house has prettier plants but that was where the woman was working. I took this photo from across the street. I may be a spy, but I am not a stalker.

I took this photo a few weeks ago from the same yard. I still haven’t been able to identify the flowers next to the primrose. Just as well as I have no room to plant anything new in my yard.