All Quiet on the Eastern Front

The first thing we noticed was the parked cars. There weren't any.

We live next door to a bed-and-breakfast inn that's been there for 120+ years, so we're accustomed to neighbors who come and go every few days. The B&B itself has no parking lot, so the guests generally park on the side streets around the building, often near us. It's not a problem -- we can always find a place to park our own cars -- but it does lead to an ever-changing array of cars nearby.

Then, suddenly, they were all gone. Hey, where'd the cars go?

Oh, yeah -- that's right. The owners of the B&B had warned us that exterminators would be tenting their building for a few days. We'd have to leave our backyard gates open so they could get access, and we'd want to trim back any bushes or flowers that were growing directly against the structure. We did all of that, but we missed the obvious side-effect: there would be no guests staying in the B&B while the tenting was gong on. No guests, no parked cars. 

The springtime weather has been bright and sunny, and it's nice to sit outside in the morning with a cup of coffee, a peek of the ocean, and no breeze. Normally, we'd observe folks at the B&B doing the same, but not today. It's all quiet on our eastern neighbor's side.