My Fence

My Mother would say
'good fences make good neighbours'
but stay off mine, please

~ carliewired



This is my fence.
This is my neighbour's truck brush dangling inside my fence.
It's been there for the past week. It's the first thing I notice when I return home and drive into my garage.

Why, you might ask, is my neighbour's truck brush inside my fence? I wish I had an answer for that question.

This brush belongs to the neighbours who complained to the city about my 'unsightly' yard. At the time, it was my husband's last summer at home before he went into care for Alzheimer's. We were just a little occupied that summer. They already knew my husband was ill then. Somehow calling by-law enforcement to report us seemed very important to them.

We live on a hill. Our backyard is extremely private. There is a 20 foot high tight row of cedars between our yards. I'm not sure how they would actually see into our backyard. Did they part the cedars to have a look? Nevertheless, we were 'reported' and another layer of stress was heaped on an already stressful, demanding, heart-wrenching time in our lives.

Fast forward to last summer. My husband has passed away. There is money available to make repairs to the house and yard. The house gets new paint and the yard gets new landscaping. Suddenly, these neighbours are delighted with us.

One afternoon, I came out to the front yard when landscaping was underway, to re-think the new parking space we had set out. Here is the Mrs. from next door in my front yard closely examining what's being done there. I happened to have my cell phone to my ear and was already engaged in a conversation with a tradesman. She began to gush about all the 'improvements' that were being made. She had a big smile on her face and she carried on like we were the best of friends. This is the same person who could not say hello or even muster a smile in the previous years. I must have stared at her with my deer-in-headlights look. I carried on with my phone conversation and returned back to the house.

No, I don't understand why this brush is in my yard. I can assure you it will be gone after dark.