Fences

I had planned on blogging yesterday, but didn't get around to it.  The kits and I had breakfast early, and then I headed over to Rosie's for the weekend.  We said good-bye to her owners, and after they had been gone 15 minutes, we took a short walk.  We took a longer walk close to noon, but stayed pretty much in the neighborhood.  Then I had lunch with Carol and Beatrice at Mimi's Cafe - the food was excellent, as usual, but the service was not up to the restaurant's normal standard.  Afterward, Bea went home with me to Rosie's house, and we watched Cars  and Cars II - and I laughed like an idiot.  I hadn't seen the movies before and found them delightful.
   The surprising thing that happened last night was that it started snowing around 8 p.m., and was still snowing at 10, when I crawled into bed with Rosie.  We ended up with about an inch on the ground - and most road surfaces were clear this morning, except a few, where there was a layer of ice.  I've returned home to visit with, and care for, my kits, and I see, without surprise, that our fence is still down.
  It's strange how secure that privacy fence made me feel.  I know that some of the boards are rotten; I know it would be very easy to remove a couple of boards from the fence and make a large gap; I know that the chain link fence is either end of the back yard is easily scalable; and I know that I can easily wiggle under the locked gate at the north end of the yard.  I guess that now, since anyone can just walk across the fallen fence and into the back yard, that it's normal to feel a little less safe.  That's why I find this so interesting... The fences that are there are easy to get around, under, or over.  So why does having these two fence panels down make me feel so vulnerable?  Because the parking lot on the other side of the fence sees a lot of traffic?  Because the sidewalk that the fence hides connects with the Boulder Creek Pathway, and sees a lot of foot and bicycle traffic? Or is it because we have a lot more transient people and the homeless in our neighborhood because of the new liquor store that has opened less than a half-block away?  With the fence up, and separating me from the world, I had no problems leaving my curtains open, to get sunshine and warmth inside.  Now, I worry about who might look inside, so the curtains are closed the entire time I'm not at home, or not awake.  Of course, it doesn't help that my "wall" between the patio and inside the apartment is nothing but plate glass and screening, with a few aluminum struts....
   So why does having the fence down make me feel so insecure? -  And since the fence went down, one of the cats stays on guard, looking out into the back yard, while the other one sleeps.  It's almost as if they've set up a guard duty station - so I guess I'm not the only one who doesn't feel 100% secure any longer....