As I stepped out of my car into my driveway, I got the very strong and distinct smell of a man’s cologne. It was not offensive, but it was as if someone had just applied cologne and walked right by me. I walked to the curb to bring in the garbage can, and the smell lessened. I admit that I was a bit perplexed. There were no packages on my front porch. No menus or flyers were hanging from my door knob. The mail had not yet been delivered. I chalked it up to it being the utility men (gas or water) who had walked through my front yard while reading my meters.
A few minutes later, I opened my side door and walked out into my fenced in back yard to let Belle out. As I stepped out, I was again hit with the same cologne that I smelled in my front yard. I walked around the yard and the smell was very strong on my patio and near my back door. It was not lawn service day. The gate was still locked.
I walked around my house and saw no evidence of someone trying to get into my home. No screens were damaged. I was not sure what to make of the strong smell in my back yard.
I told Mark about the smell. He didn’t think that anyone had been in our yard or had tried to scope out our house. He thought it might be a neighbor’s cologne. He tends to think that I am paranoid about break ins.
Perhaps I am paranoid. I opted for a security system here because we have a two story home, and while we were upstairs sleeping, it is completely possible for someone to break in.
In the past year, our township has reported a series of burglaries in the area. My next door neighbor’s home was one of the casualties. The burglar broke a window and ruined a screen. She had no security system, and it is believed that he got scared off by something before he actually got into the house. Other homes in the area have been burglarized. There is little information about the burglaries. I only learned about the rash of burglaries because we got a Code Red Alert call.I got the news about the next door neighbor from my neighbor’s daughter!
Call me paranoid, but I know what I smell! Someone WAS in my yard.
