There was excitement in our backyard last Tues...

...in the middle of the night in fact.  Our neighborhood was being ransacked by car thieves of the break-in variety.  My neighbor watched them make their way down the street trying to get in people's cars.  They went through her cars, stole tools from Carl across the street, tried to get into our cars.  Naturally she called the police and about 8 patrol cars arrived shortly to start the chase through the streets.  They caught one of the intruders but the other slipped away which was why we awoke to policemen scouring our backyard with their spotlight-bright flashlights.  They looked under every nook and cranny, behind every bush, in every corner.  No car thief to be found.  But two cars in the area were stolen that night and the next morning.  We must have been on the hit list.  We get this kind of excitement every few years.  One year we ended up with a car in our backyard because they were trying to escape the neighborhood.  We've had numerous backyard searched, a drug bust next door, (it was a little unnerving to hear someone yell out about 1:00 a.m.  -  "put your hands up, this is the police!" and to look out to see the neighbor and his mother laying face down on the driveway being frisked by the cops) the swat team called in, a high speed chase (it was a bank robbery) and police shooting.  Sounds adventurous, but really we are a quiet, nice suburban neighborhood.  Sadly, Nathanael, who thrives on adventure, was out of town for just about every one.