Thinking about binoculars

In the end, people are always the most interesting creatures around.

Still in Florida and the big news is, I bought a pair of binoculars. “For the birds,” I told Jeff.

“For people-watching,” he said. “You’re going to get us arrested.”

Maybe? I wanted the binoculars when we were down here last year and then forgot about it. Really, for the birds and to get a closer look at the dolphins who swim along the shore. But if occasionally, some people fall into my field of vision, that’s not the worst thing, is it?

Take the guy next door. His name is Doug. How do I know his name? I haven’t introduced myself, because an actual conversation would be, you know, interaction as well as taking all the mystery away. I’d much rather watch and make up stories about Doug. Doug is maybe in his late sixties or early seventies. It’s hard to tell. He doesn’t leave the room much. He has friends down here. I saw him wave to a couple as they drove away in their car. He puts a fan out on the balcony, which is very smart given how warm it gets out there in the afternoon. This also means he drives down instead of flying (can’t fit a fan that big in your checked bag). I have not yet figured out which car in the parking lot is his. I’ll keep you posted.

What are you looking at?

I can also tell you about the group of ten women, all graduates of the class of 1973 in a high school in Michigan. Or the couples in the three cottages along the beach who sometimes eat dinner together at the picnic tables, unless the bugs are too bad, in which case they move inside. And the young couple who showed up today—he brought a portable easel to the beach to work on a painting of her lounging in her beach chair.

The place we stay lends itself to this sort of nosiness. At least that’s what I tell myself. People come in and out, but also stay for longer stretches. Weeks and months at a time. The balconies that face the ocean are separated by a slatted wall, which means you can hear the conversations on either side of you. Of course, this can be annoying, but also, fascinating.

Jeff is much less interested in tracking the intimate lives of our neighbors. I guess many people would feel that way? I don’t know. There’s a strong chance I’ve read too many mysteries and I can’t stop Miss Marple-ing. Just think of all the murder-worthy secrets you could overhear?

Also, I’m a sociologist and as Peter Berger described in An Invitation to Sociology, sociologists are inveterate eaves-droppers, the kind of people who cannot resist the urge to peek through the keyhole to see what’s happening on the other side of the door. Or, you know, buy binoculars. Sociologists don’t want to be able to read people’s minds. We want to be invisible, moving through the rooms where the most interesting interactions are taking place.

As if that’s not enough, I’m also a writer, also some of the nosiest people around. Or at least the good writers are. Before I saw Doug, I had constructed a whole other backstory for him. It was elaborate. I had to start a new draft when I saw what he actually looked like.

From a writer’s perspective, there’s something especially appealing about the fleeting nature of the people you encounter when you’re traveling. They are their own writing exercises. Here’s a person who travels to Florida and stays right on the beach, but never leaves their room. Write their story. Evocative details without any of the baggage of facts to get in your way. On top of that, what else do you have to do on vacation besides dream about the lives of the people next door?

The birds and the dolphins are interesting, sure. Yesterday I watched an osprey fly across the water, dipping its feet into the waves as it flew lower and higher, creating straight lines of wake along the shore. When I venture out into the surf, I like listening to the thunk of pelicans as they hit the water to dive for fish. There’s a big tortoise that lives in the scrub right below our balcony and the way he plods across the sand is entertaining. But in the end, people are always the most interesting creatures around, don’t you think?

P.S. No actual peeping tom activities occurred in the writing of this post.

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