Sign of the times

Someone stole my garden lights.

I still find it hard to believe. Thursday night, my little solar lights were glowing along the pathway to my front door. Friday night, my husband called, "Come look at this! Your lights are gone."

I took it personally. About a third of my neighbors have small solar lights lining their front paths - only mine were gone.

My next door neighbor pointed out that my lights had a bronze finish, while everyone else's are black plastic. Mine were ACTUALLY plastic as well. They just looked bronze.

My neighbors are usually pretty vigilant. When an elderly Asian woman began picking my roses during her morning walk, they all called to report it. One went as far as making a sign in Chinese telling her not to pick my roses.

But no one saw the light thief. Was some homeless person so desperate that he pulled my small lights from my yard? I paid $30 for them at Target last year. Surely they weren't worth very much this year.

I'm not going to replace them. They didn't light up the yard. They were too dim to read by if I was sitting outside on the step. But I will miss the gentle glow that they gave to my world.