Talk in our Moraga neighborhood these last few weeks has centered around our gardens and "The Midnight Marauder" -- a motorcyclist with a meaty Harley and one helluva sound system aboard.
He usually rumbles through our neck of the woods a little after midnight, the potato potato potato growl of the Harley signaling his arrival, followed seconds later by some rap or 80s groove tunes delivered at concert levels.
Those of us hoping to cadge a little sleep before the 5 a.m. buzzer goes off have been levitated out of our comfy little beds at the noise and a couple of the neighbors have set out in search of Mr. Marauder, only to come up short every time.
Until last night... or this morning, I mean. I was catapulted out of bed at 12:10 a.m. by some Peaches and Herb or something, I don't know, I was too groggy to identify it. The music was so loud I thought it was in the next room and I stomped off in the direction of the kids rooms to chew some tail when I realized it was outside, on Saint Mary's Road.
Very funny moment with me struggling into jeans and slippers and heading out in the direction of the noise, which was still strong from about 100 yards away. By the time I got there his taillights were receding in the dark. I drove onto the campus at SMC and asked if anyone there had seen or heard a guy on a big Harley with a big sound system.
Some smiles, some laughs, some shaking of heads, and then: "Oh yeah, that's (name withheld for now), he's a campus safety officer here."
Picture my mouth moving without words coming out, the illogical picture of a campus police officer being the noise violator responsible for waking an entire neighborhood causing my sleep-deprived synapses to misfire and slam into each other like some malfunctioning supercollider.
I recovered enough to file a formal complaint and drove slowly home, shaking my head. I'm hoping officer X had a pleasant ride home (disturbing how many countless other people in the process) because tomorrow, or today... whatever, I'm hoping we can have a talk.
About noise, about music... maybe about bikes. But mainly about common sense, and civil courtesy. We've caught you, Marauder!
