Wednesday:) What Did I See On My Walk and Why Was I In Trouble?

“I guess there’s a fine line between admiring beauty and being seen as a possible threat. It’s all in your perspective.”

~Toni Armenta Andrukaitis

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It was a really hot and terribly windy day here in North Texas, but that didn’t stop me from my daily walk. My walking is my pensive contemplative time. I also love taking pictures of butterflies, beautiful flowers, wonderful weeds, sidewalk chalk art, and meeting new neighbors and chatting with old friends.

Well, today I was just about a mile into my walk when I saw some beautiful chalk art drawings in a driveway. I stopped to take some pictures. The sun was very bright, so I walked around, trying to get just the right angle.

Look how cute.

This was my favorite, the tall tree covered most of the drawing, but the cool blue sun popped through the shadow. A nice symbolism of the sun bursting through the shadows. I continued my walk. I saw several butterflies, but by the time I got my phone out, they would flutter down the street.

Now here’s the funny getting into trouble part. When I got home, my phone dinged with a neighborhood ring doorbell alert. It was a neighbor asking, “Does anyone know this lady? (It was a video of me taking pictures of the driveway art,) She was taking pictures of my driveway where my daughter drew some pictures with chalk. Is she the HOA lady? Doesn’t she have anything better to do than write citations for chalk art?”

Well, what followed was a barrage of comments about the HOA and how ridiculous they are and how they can’t come onto private property. Then, other people commented about how mean that was. One person even said, your garbage can had blown over in the street, she could have at least picked it up instead of taking pictures of your driveway.

I just laughed as I read the comments. I went to the comment section and wrote, “Oh, this is funny. My name is Toni, I’m your neighbor. I walk every day, and when I passed by your driveway this morning, I saw this beautiful artwork on the driveway and just had to take some pictures. I’m sorry if that made you nervous. And, it’s a good thing you are being careful. We need to look out for our neighborhood. I would have done the same thing.”

As I read more comments, I smiled. Several neighbors wrote, “I know that lady. She’s an artist and a wonderful neighbor. She was probably admiring the art work.” Another friend commented, “She’s the sweetest lady and she loves artwork and I’m sure she was taking pictures of the drawings. She volunteers teaching art and bakes brownies for the firemen. She’ll probably bring you some brownies.”

About an hour later, I was on my way to take some art supplies to Towne Creek, where I volunteer. Miss Kathy wanted to paint a couple of bowls today and didn’t have the materials. But first, I stopped at the house where I took the pictures and got in trouble. And yes, I took some brownies. When I rang the bell, there was no answer, so I talked to the ring doorbell, knowing that I’d be on video. I explained who I was and apologized if I worried anyone, and I was starting to walk away when a lady came to the door.

This is my new friend Wei. We talked for quite a while. I told her how much I admired the artwork and that I was a former art teacher. I said I walk past her house every day, and that maybe one day I can come a draw with her and her daughter.

Later on, there was a comment on the neighborhood Ring Doorbell Alert from Wei saying that she met the very nice lady who was taking pictures of her driveway and there was no problem. I guess the video feed was deleted. I was hoping to share the funny video of the mysterious picture lady. I do look rather suspicious. NOT!

Yep, it’s all in your perspective.