I really should have gotten my stuff together last week. I meant to post a nice long wrap up of the Seattle to Portland ride and I kept putting it off until “later”. Jane and I had the week off and we kept sleeping in a little bit later each morning.

Then Sunday morning happened. Some one broke in to our next door neighbors house, killed one, and seriously injured the other. They were two lovely women who were getting married in September. We still have the Save the Date on the fridge.

Saturday night Jane and I hung out at home and stayed up late to catch up on True Blood and the Tour de France. We got to bed around 2 am. Jane let the dog out to go to the bathroom right before bed. Chibi was playing around instead of doing her business so Jane was outside for a while. I eventually went out to make sure everything was alright. We all came in and laid down for the night.

The police found our neighbors at about 3am that morning. It was completely fucking grizzly. I can barely even type this out. It feels totally selfish… like I’m taking advantage of the moment for a story. It is just sort of a coping mechanism, I suppose.

We woke up late, around 10. I took the dog out and notice a police officer pacing their backyard. I figured there might have been some tagging or a robbery. I went up to say hello and he hit me with the news. My brain wasn’t processing anything seriously. I hadn’t even really started my coffee yet…

Apparently police were pounding on our doors that morning to see if we were safe. There was a bunch of screaming that woke up neighbors up and down the block. We slept through it all. Hell, we slept through when our same neighbors tree collapsed onto our front yard.

The whole street was taped off and police/CSI types were all over the place. They were very respectful, but it was pretty surreal to see so many people in and around our properties all day. The media swarmed on the outskirts trying to fish for information. They are still there as I type this, except even closer to our house since the police tape is down.

We went out to meet Norman for breakfast and to go with our original “Light Rail Day” plans and it hit us even harder. There was a pool of blood in the street. Our neighbors across the street had huge bloody hand prints on their door. Next door was a broken window with a white curtain out of it, completely soaked in red.

Everything has been in really sharp focus this morning.

Aside from the obvious anger of the situation, I’m mad that I have to justify the community I live in to people again. We have some amazing neighbors that look out for each other. I’m going to scream if I have to hear another “So, you going to be moving?” question. I will continue to stick up for South Park.

I’m not even sure where I am going with this. Thanks for listening. I’ll get up a proper bike related post soon. It will have pictures and glorious stories, to be sure.

Also, for those of you who read this, there is a neighborhood meeting tonight (Monday) at 7pm. It is at the community center in South Park. I will be there for sure.