20/365

You think you know, but you have no idea.

This could be said about our neighbors to the east. To put it lightly, there has been some "strange activity" going on next door. It all started a few years ago. One of the what-seemed-to-be-about 15 kids that lives there came over asking for a donation for a mission trip. When asked what church he attended, he replied "we don't go to church." When asked where he was going on the mission trip, he replied "I don't know." We had been suspicious for some time already, but this incident firmly raised a red flag in the air.

We then watched from our driveway one day as 4 middle-aged women, all of different ethnicities (so they weren't sisters), each with 3-4 kids loaded in a tour-bus sized RV. They were then followed by the "big daddy" [so to say] of the house. Let me repeat that. 4 women. 12 kids. 1 man. 1 RV. As they were pulling out of the drive, "big daddy" says, "we're heading out for vacation for a few weeks!" and waves goodbye.

Throw in the fact that there is a private business being run out of the garage, about 5 people living in the RV in the driveway, the kids don't attend any church or school, people coming and going allllll hours of the night, and the fact that we only know their last names because the mailman accidentally put a piece of their mail in our box.......and I think we've got an old-fashioned down home case of polygamy.

Now, I'm not sharing this because I have any judgement or opinion to share about the situation. I am sharing b/c this has been the ultimate source of home entertainment in our lives for several years now. Can't tell you how many nights we've covertly spied thru the kitchen in our pj's as someone makes a delivery to the super mysterious "office door" behind the garage or we discover a face we've never seen before emerging from the house in their pajamas. [Cue the Dateline music please.]

Being the avid "Big Love" viewer that I am, it has been a trip to take scenarios from the show and try to apply potential parallels to the situation next door. Thoughts like "I wonder who their celestial prophet is" and "do they live by the principle" and "have they ever resided on a compound" have crossed my mind more times than I can count.

But all the suspense came to a screeching halt last month, when literally OVERNIGHT the house became vacant. EMPTY. No movers. Nothin. One of our sources has revealed that "big daddy" started his own housing development, with his house being the central property. [Cue: Dateline music.] The house was never officially up for sale, but someone is moving in. And that someone has us on alert. From what we've gathered so far (after hours of window-watching and covert trips down the driveway), we have a sneaking suspicion that the new residents are sure to provide many more hours of entertainment.

If you only knew to what measures I went to secretly get video of the movers at work today....

To be continued...