As a full-time writer, I have the luxury of working at home. But recently  I’ve seen signs that I need to get out more.

I’m not a music person, but I like to have some kind of background noise when I’m working. I used to keep the TV on, but that became too distracting. So one day when I was browsing for online streams, I stumbled across the local police channel. I could actually listen to every back-and-forth between the dispatcher, police,  and emergency units.

A new distraction–make that an obsession–was born. It took me a few days to decipher the codes and garbled transmissions, but I finally got the hang of the official communications.  We live a few blocks away from the fire station, and we hear sirens several times a day. I used to pay them little attention. Now I’m like a duck on a June bug, hitting that police stream to find out what’s going on in my little town.

And I have to say, it’s been a bit unnerving. It’s not reassuring to learn that your local PD is on the lookout for an armed and dangerous thug who just escaped a police perimeter in a neighboring town. Or that the gas station at the bottom of the hill was just  robbed by a masked bandit who has been attacking places all over the area.

My husband, who also works at home but who has a structured, self-disciplined routine, recently gave me a strange look when I peered fearfully out the window.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Looking for a silver Honda, driven by 5-foot nine guy who is possibly Asian,” I reply. “He robbed the Chevron station. He has a gun, nine millimeter. “

“Oh.”

My husband has learned not to probe my odd statements too deeply. I think he attributes my eccentricities to the fact that I’m a writer.

And truthfully, I rationalize many of my quirks as being a byproduct of a creative mind. For example, I figure I have to learn how cops really talk, so that helps me justify listening to the emergency channel for hours on end.

The truth is, it’s just another one of my home-grown obsessions. I have others. I have an intense interest in volcanoes, for example. I monitor the status of volcanoes across the planet–I usually know when one’s about to blow, long before you hear about it on the news. (News editors must not share my volcano obsession.)  Why? Well, for some reason I have this inner certainty that a major volcano is going to explode, a Krakatoa-level event that’ll throw us back into another mini-Ice Age. (If it actually happens, it’ll be hell on crops and the economy, but at least it’ll take care of global warming.)

The reality is, I should probably get out of the house more. When I had a day job, I didn’t indulge my obsessions nearly so much. I simply didn’t have time. Maybe I should volunteer, do something useful. But I’d probably volunteer for something related to one of my obsessions, like becoming a Neighborhood Watch captain. Do they get to talk on the police radio, do you suppose?

But enough about my obsessions. Do you have any you can share?