We don’t have any neighbours for maybe half a mile or so in each direction. Just open fields and more wildlife than you can shake a stick at. So imagine my surprise when I found someone lurking around having what he told me was a leisurely stroll in the field next to our house.
Me: Hi, can I help you?
Him: No
Me: Are you looking for something?
Him: No I’m just having a stroll
Me: Well this is private property so you could maybe take a stroll somewhere else. There’s loads of public footpaths around here.
Him: Oh right. It’s nice here though. Quiet.
Me: Yes it usually is when there’s no one trespassing -(Okay I never said that last part but I wanted to)
Correct me if I’m wrong but if I was choosing a summer walk I wouldn’t look for a house to walk directly next to. It’s rude, it’s an invasion of privacy and it’s just not the done thing. He was so close he was practically in my garden. If he had been walking slightly faster he would have caught me fully naked in the garden unpegging my yoga pants and vest from the washing line to put on. And let’s remember I’m not a fan of underwear so that could have been awkward. I was alone in the house with all the doors to the garden wide open and honestly it made me feel a little vulnerable and uneasy.
Now, Husband is not a fan of any sort of intruders, accidental or otherwise and he always believes that these lost dog walkers or cheeky nature lovers with no concept of personal space have a hidden agenda. He is convinced they are plotting a robbery, kidnapping or worse and becomes horrendously overprotective and automatically morphs into protector mode in the form of the Incredible Hulk. So when I called him to tell him that I’d had a run in with a stranger over the garden fence it was possibly not a decision I’d thought out that well. He made the 20 minute journey from across town in approximately 4 minutes and came storming in like the charge of the light brigade. He was 9 foot tall and puffed out from what I imagine was adrenaline.
Hus: What did he look like? How old was he? Did he have any tattoos or distinguishing features?
Good God I felt like I was being interrogated by MI5
Me: Er… Erm … he was in black shorts with a smiley face tattoo on his calf like the calling card sign that serial killer Red John leaves at his crime scenes off that program I like because I fancy the man in it.
Husband was looking at me like I’d grown another head. Saying nothing he turned and immediately stalked outside and jumped over the back garden fence making his way at great speed towards the layby at the end of our driveway. In a nutshell this layby has been known to have a bit of ‘dogging’ activity and it has also been known for Husband to chase people out of the layby that are being particularly brazen about it.
He returned a few minutes later for his car. Within seconds he had jumped in it and all that was left was a cloud of dust from him speeding off.
I hoped he wasn’t going to kill anyone or frighten anyone too much so they called the police. I’d been hoping for a nice quiet weekend.
Once again he returned. He told me with vigour and in great detail how he had walked up to a few random people in the layby to get a good look at their calves and driven to a couple of neighbouring laybys also known for there unsavoury activities to do the same but hadn’t had any luck. He seemed disappointed. But then finished by telling me that he had driven back through our layby at the end of our drive and just for good measure had made sure he was driving past the parked cars menacingly slowly while gently swinging a hammer out of the open window.
WTF?
He likes to make sure that anyone who visits this layby or who comes too close to our house leaves with the idea that a raving loony with a ginger beard and a large hammer lives here.
I definitely think he managed it.
So if you’re considering a walk in the beautiful Yorkshire countryside and happen to stumble across a crazed maniac going from car to car in a resting spot wielding a hammer/ baseball bat or a selection of power tools (historically they’ve all had an outing), do not panic, it’s only Husband.
Life by Eliza 