Perhaps we’ll never officially meet
Funny thing about the footprints we leave, here on the Web. The traces aren’t just the ones highlighted by running your name through Google. This afternoon, while reading someone else’s blog, I spotted a breadcrumb left by someone else, who had arrived there from here. I’m not alone in the world!
I come from a place where neighbours are an important asset. Here in the big city, I can’t claim to know who the others on my street might be (with over a hundred houses, little surprise). But, I take great pride in knowing the lay of the land in smaller locales. You need to know who lives down that lane.
I threw my next address into Google, just because. After all, it’s a faster way to get there in tools like Street View. It can also throw back other details; I know who does live down the lane. In fact, I learned that those extra cottages on the property are available to rent, should the need ever arise. Pictures, some background, names and faces. A neighbour that I don’t even know yet (although we did meet, under comedic circumstances last summer).
The thing is, Google often brings back more than one link; I learned that my neighbour has “listed” the whole thing, for sale to the highest bidder. He might move away before I ever move in. Did our meeting last summer cause such a culture shock that he’s decided to pull up stakes, unplug the last solar panel and head off to another secluded woody paradise?
