Bare Bottomed Betty

I have spoken in the past about the great neighborhood I have been fortunate to live in.  When my children were young other young families surrounded us and it was a great neighborhood to be belong to.  There were a few families who had resided on the block since the first house was purchased in the subdivision and then there were a few houses that had several owners over the years.

In the summer time we would usually gather in someone's front yard in the evenings, just sitting together having coffee and dessert.  Since our houses were all centered in the middle of the block we would leave the windows open to listen for sleeping children.  Most of us armed with child monitors whose ranges were long enough for us to keep a vigilant ear out in case a sleeping child awakened.  Something I probably wouldn't do today but it seemed perfectly safe at the time.

Normally the husbands were the first to gather as we wives were usually finishing the supper dishes and preparing the refreshments.  They men would set up the chairs and stake claim to their spots.  

One summer the guys began to gather in the Farckle's yard every night.  We didn't pay much attention to this but by the 5th night or so without rotating our location we did start wondering why we were staying in one yard.  We wondered that is until the night we noticed the guys slowing inching their lawn shairs slightly to the east.  Pretty soon they were a good yard or two away from the women.

At some point I decided to run next door to my house to check on my sleeping children and as I came back out my front door I just happened to look up and into the window of my neighbor directly across the street.  Betty and her husband were new to the block and hadn't started joining our evening coffee group.  What had caught my eye was the fact that the entire house was dark but the living room window was open.  You could see through the living room into the kitchen.  The refrigerator door was open and the light from the frig. was clearly illuminating a naked Betty standing in front of the open refrigerator surveying it's contents. 

There she was, Bare Bottomed Betty. and there were our husbands, about to fall out of their chairs as they strained their necks to catch the late night floor show.  Suddenly it became clear as to why we had moved to the Farckle's yard and the sudden change in venue and why our (the wives) chairs were always facing the house!

To the disappointment of the neighborhood men I called Betty the next day and delicately explained her need to close her curtains at night.  She and her husband never did join our nightly gathering and in fact they didn't remain on the block too long.  We never did stop referring to her as Bare Bottomed Betty either!