At the post office the other day, the woman behind the counter greeted me with: "Did he leave?" She was talking about the character out in the parking lot who was getting into his old pickup that doesn't have a hood over the engine.

She said this guy breaks into peoples' houses and takes showers. He has been caught at it, but nobody turns him in because they are afraid the district attorney in our county won't do anything about it, and/or the guy will get out of jail and retaliate against the neighbors.

In one case, he watched a mother load her three small children in the car and leave one morning, let himself into the house only to discover the dad was still at home. Oops.

Another family, a dad and a 10-year old son didn't catch him in the act. The son kept complaining to his dad that things weren't as he'd left them: the soap wasn't where he put it, some of his small change on his dresser was missing, and the TV volume would be set really loud. The dad blamed the son, but a neighbor finally told him the weird guy was seen entering their house when they weren't home.

The gal at the post office came home one morning to find the house empty, but the shower was on. Her husband was out of town, so it wasn't him. She is sure it was this weird guy.

Aside from the breaking and entering, water is a precious commodity in that particular neighborhood: the water table has been drained low by all the wells, and everyone has to haul their water. That's probably why he does it - to conserve his own hauled water.

The fears of retaliation are based upon tire slashing incidents that are hard to prove definitively, but everyone is fairly sure he was the culprit. The police are aware of his shenanigans, but nobody has enough evidence to do anything, and partly because the neighbors are afraid of him.

It seems like a dangerous situation, doesn't it? I am so glad he lives miles away.

Better news. A friend sent me some fox photos of a visitor at his mechanical shop. He looks a lot like my fox.