Just your average neighborhood

I live in a very safe, very normal neighborhood. As a result, anything remotely unusual tends to result in lots of excited conversations at book group, girls' night, backyard barbecues, etc. So imagine the sensation a polygamist family can cause on a hot summer's day when nothing all that great has happened in a while.

There is a lovely house across the street that has been inhabited by renters since we moved in last year (I don't know how long before that). It was recently vacated and a "For Sale" sign went up. A few days later a giant SUV pulled in under cover of darkness (how can you resist watching from your porch when you're getting new neighbors, right?) and moved someone in (more renters, since the sign is still up). The next morning there were cute blond children wandering around in the yard wearing old-fashioned nightgowns (really, right from Little House on the Prairie). Later in the day those same children plus a few more were outside playing in pioneer dresses (for the girls) and flannel, long-sleeved shirts tucked into Wranglers with big belt buckles (boys). One of my neighbors came over for a chat and we started speculating, and came to the conclusion that they are fundamentalists. Having been oblivious to most news items and living outside of Utah for a time, I forgot that fundamentalists means polygamists. It finally hit me when the dad mowed the lawn and two wives surrounded by 5 or 6 children sat on the porch to watch. Awesome. There are rumors of two other wives that moved in late one night a few weeks ago. I can't tell them apart, to be honest. I've seen two at a time.

The kids all seem very well-behaved and very quiet. I actually wondered if there was some sort of vow of silence they all have to take. Then I was bringing in the mail for our neighbors that were on vacation and one of the little boys was standing in the front yard, staring at me (maybe we look just as weird to them as they do to us) and I heard him say to the girl standing next to him, "She's stealin' their MAIL!!!" They glared at me and watched everything I did the rest of the day. I can still feel their little eyes watching, waiting for me to commit another felony. They probably refer to me as the Pants-wearing, mail-stealing criminal from across the street.

I've considered taking cookies over. Actually, I meant to the week they moved in, before I realized they were polygamists. The fact that they are practicing polygamy has nothing to do with the fact that I haven't done it yet. I'm just not very good at following up on good intentions. I'm worried that now if I take cookies over, they will think I'm either trying to bribe their children into silence about the mail theft, or trying to peek into their strange lives. I am sure they know they are the subject of neighborhood gossip. How could you not be, in an average neighborhood like this one. RaeAnne, maybe we could take cookies over together. They don't consider you a criminal. At least, I don't think so.