Blocked

"It is folly to punish your neighbor by fire when you live next door".
~ Publilius Syrus

Our old house is located downtown. The front porch and door face a major street, but we usually come in through the back from a driveway that is entered by a side street. This driveway is an easement deeded to the property many years ago. It's a single gravel lane that allows us to park behind our house and enjoy greater privacy. It is also a driveway that has been in dispute. Our neighbors who moved in the house adjacent to this easement have been greatly concerned that we were easing into their property. No matter how many times I shared that we had the property surveyed, that our driveway, fence and walnut tree are on our side of the property line and even showed them the corner pins -- they remain unsatisfied.

As a property protective measure, since our return from Haiti, they have placed two cement blocks along the property edge. These blocks are low, and their location makes it difficult to come in and out. Often we would find the blocks placed more on our driveway, making us get out of our vehicle and move them so we could pass. They also secured birdhouses on our walnut tree as a way to show that they believed that the tree was actually on their property. We express our frustrations with the blocks and their parking at the edge of our driveway making us not only avoid the blocks but also their rear bumper. Finally, they did their own survey and found that what I was telling them was correct.

It is nice to be right, but so far the only thing accomplished has been their keeping the blocks on their side of the property. We still curse at these obstacles every time we enter or exit.