I Spy

I have a certain fondness for people who don't close their curtains.

Especially the ones who have great big windows and keep their lights burning bright.

You see, I love to spy in their windows.

I promise there is nothing creepy about my predilection for peeping in people's windows when driving by at night. I simply enjoy seeing how the houses look inside, and by that I don't strictly mean the way they're decorated. It's more a matter of checking out the many ways in which we live in our homes. 

Certain neighborhoods favor this pastime. 

Historic districts are usually a sure thing for lots of interior viewing opportunities. There's a tendency for upscale renovations there, and who wants to cover up their painstakingly refurbished trim with a bunch of curtains? Pure viewing satisfaction. I love comparing those homes whose owners have gone strictly period and filled their home with furnishings to match the era of the house with those who've taken a decidedly modern turn and let their gothic moldings coexist with the clean lines of an Eames sofa and Danish teak end tables. I can't say I prefer one over the other; they are equals in my eyes. 

There's one suburban development we drive by occasionally that turns my stomach a bit with tacky over-the-top opulence (topulence?). Does the big screen TV need to be that big? Does anyone who lives there actually play that grand piano? Isn't there a legal limit on the amount of wrought iron and granite a house can hold? I'm always struck by the fact that these homes tend to have all their lights on all the time, as if their inhabitants are never in the same room together. 

In contrast, there's a house near ours where it seems as if every time we drive by, at least six people are gathered in their kitchen. Their patio doors (with no curtains) face the street, so I can always get a good view of their cramped kitchen, filled with knick-knacks and occupied chairs. They always look like they're having a good time - eating a meal, playing cards, talking around the table while someone washes dishes in the background. 

When we travel, I get all excited riding in the shuttle from the airport. There's nothing quite like spying in windows in a new town. It helps remind me that other cities aren't just tourist attractions; actual people live their actual lives in these places. The other night we shuttle bussed our way past a house that had a beautiful two-sided fireplace connecting the kitchen and living room. I could see a man in the kitchen as he unpacked bags of groceries onto the countertops. Just a snapshot of a typical day, I know, but it still makes me smile. 

Since my husband usually does the driving, he wasn't aware of my hobby until fairly recently. I think he figured it out when I tried to explain the exact location of something to him and used the phrase "by that house with the ugly blue floral sofa that used to sit by the window 'til they moved it to the other side of the room".