[mdoats]

The voyeurism of winter dog walking
I find, these days, that I am a voyeur. Not intentionally. I have to walk the dog, after all. But now, in the early dark, as I walk past home after home, I see a tiny glimpse into my neighbor’s indoor lives. I see them preparing dinner or doing the dishes. I seem them reading their books or working on their computers. I see what they watch on their large screen TVs through their plate glass living room windows.

In the summer, walking the dog means interacting with my neighbors. People are outside. We greet each other. We make small talk. In the late fall and early winter, it is dark and too cold to sit outside. People retreat inside. They turn on the lights. And I see them as I walk past.

 

[Murphysmom]

I love walking Murphy this time of evening because we are the only ones out, and it's very peaceful.

 

[janine]

It is why I close my front curtains!!!! :curtain: But I do love taking a walk in the evening and being nosey and seeing what everyone else is doing!

 

[Maxs Mom]

I have to admit I am guilty of this. : I don't know I am looking at my neighbors as much as I am looking at their decorating. I don't notice if the house is clean or dirty, but I might notice a picture arrangement hanging on the wall. It gives me ideas for my house.

I have a BIG bay window in my front, and a 8' french door wall in my back. You can see right through my house! You would think I would be a better house keeper. :no: :curtain:

 

[Daisybones]

I have done this for years. I used to drive around the north side of Chicago and go by the gigantic houses. I don't stop I just drive by and take a quick peeky boo. They really are beautiful. I'm really not creepy. Really. I just appreciate a great looking house, inside and out.

 

[Murphysmom]

We keep our curtain closed at night too, simply because we live a mile away from the county jail. Yikes.

 

[Debles]

I don't walk my boys anymore but when we drive somewhere at night I love looking in people's windows as we drive by, especially at Christmas and see their tree and decorations!

My husband is a paranoid freak and closes the blinds the minute he gets home. Our livingroom picture window faces our back deck and privacy fence so no one can see in anyway! He cracks me up!

 

[LibertyME]

OMG my husband does that too!
It drives me crazy...he closes the house up like a cave!
I wave to the neighbors! :wavey:

I don't walk my boys anymore but when we drive somewhere at night I love looking in people's windows as we drive by, especially at Christmas and see their tree and decorations!

My husband is a paranoid freak and closes the blinds the minute he gets home. Our livingroom picture window faces our back deck and privacy fence so no one can see in anyway! He cracks me up!

 

[ilovemydogs]

I don't have many neighbors and the ones I do have keep their curtains closed. I on the other hand have a big 8 foot wide window in the front of my house with the curtains open at all times so people can see right into my living room. If I close the curtains I won't be able to see out and that would bother me. I know that one of my neighbors has been looking. On Halloween she that said she told her daughter she would go look to see if the tv was on to see if we were home before they came up and knocked on the door. I am now considering some different window treatments.

 

[Abbydabbydo]

Early, early morning is worse! People picking up their newspapers sans clothes. I tell the pups to close their eyes

 

[Karen2]

Sierra and I walk early in the morning, about 4:30AM.
I am shocked how many people are watching TV at that time of day!
I see the glow and changing colors and flashes thru their window coverings or uncovered windows. Maybe the TV just stays on 24/7, I don't know.
Now as we are loosing playtime daylight, we will switch to walks.
I'm sure will be seeing a lot of TV's and computers going.
Karen

 

[Debles]

Early, early morning is worse! People picking up their newspapers sans clothes. I tell the pups to close their eyes

HA!!! That's me!!! In my T shirt!!!! I hate it when I have to put on clothes if the paper person hits too far from the door!

 

[Abbydabbydo]

I'll be seeing you in all the familiar places.....lololol

 

[jwemt81]

I walk our dogs pretty late at night and most of our neighborhood has already gone to bed. DH works overnights and I work from home and usually finish working pretty late, so we go for our last walk of the day around midnight. We live in a cul de sac and we walk around it for a good 30-45 minutes. I really enjoy walking at night. It's so peaceful and quiet. I do really enjoy conversing with the neighbors during the spring, summer, and early fall, but I also love peace and quiet during our walks. I'm sure that I'll start doing it a bit earlier when it starts to get really cold out, but we have had some great warm weather lately and it's perfect for walking.

 

[Lisa_and_Willow.]

It is why I close my front curtains!!!! :curtain: But I do love taking a walk in the evening and being nosey and seeing what everyone else is doing!

Same here!

 

[AmberSunrise]

I love this time of year!! While I hike in the woods so I don't see neighbors then, I love driving around and getting a glimpse of people's houses - not the people since I will deliberately look away if they are visible so I don't intrude.

But the warmth of the lighting and the general look of coziness and comfort is very appealing to me - I don't like the flicker and blueness of the monster TVs but otherwise it is a magical glimpse of why we love our houses and how we arrange family pictures etc

 

[Augustus McCrae's Mom]

I have to admit I am guilty of this. : I don't know I am looking at my neighbors as much as I am looking at their decorating. I don't notice if the house is clean or dirty, but I might notice a picture arrangement hanging on the wall. It gives me ideas for my house.

I do the same thing! I like to see how they've decorated.

 

[Jazz & Jules]

A few weeks ago, in the afternoon, a young girl, maybe 9-11 years old was sitting across the street on her bike and looking straight at the front of our house with binoculars as I did have the blinds wide open. I stuck my face in the window and the pups proceeded to follow me and I stuck my tongue out. She finally noticed me and OMG! The look on her face was priceless! She couldn't pedal away fast enough! Poor girl had to come back later and get her binoculars as she dropped them!

 

[slip_kid]

becareful peaking into those windows at night... some things you can't unsee!!!

 

[Adriennelane]

I've caught myself looking into other people's houses on walks at night, too. It makes me thankful that our living room is in the back of the house, and that we keep our bedroom windows covered with curtains and blinds. I do like to keep all the window blinds open in the back of the house as long as possible, but I also make sure to close then quickly too at night because our I have caught our neighbor watching us.

We both have basically the same two-story house, and I've caught the guy in his bathroom upstairs watching as I take the girls to potty in the middle of the night. It's kinda creepy. Actually just about everything about those people is creepy.