Good fences

good neighbors make; and bad fences need to go.

Six-foot wooden fence, 300 feet long behind our property and two lots to the south, three more to the north.  Fence was installed by the owner of the property on the other side of the fence.  His claim was that it was situated two feet inside his property line.  Over time, my trees grew to enclose parts of the fence, which is neither here nor there.

About a month ago, I noted a survey team working along the neighbor’s very long property line.  A few days later my next-door neighbor asked me if I had noted the placement of the stakes and flags indicating the boundary between our property and the property on the other side of the fence.  I had not, so I went to take a look.  The entire fence is inside our property, not on that of the erector of said fence.  My neighbor and I agreed that since it is our fence, and old, and ugly, and disintegrating it should go.

BBBH was drinking her first cuppa yesterday morning. She glanced out the window looking to the west.  "The fence is gone!"  I went to check it out.  It is gone, posts and all.  There were a few pickets sticking in my trees here and there, which I broke off.  Opened up quite a vista.  Well, if the full view of the IU Health Hospital maintenance facility, and a pretty good view of Pioneer’s research facility is a vista.

The fence in background, now gone.

The Love of God

When a foreigner lives with you in your land, don’t take advantage of him. Treat the foreigner the same as a native. Love him like one of your own. Remember that you were once foreigners in Egypt. I am God, your God. 

--Leviticus 19:33-34 (The Message)

God's chosen people were given many directives relating to their mode of living. To fail in the observance of these rules was to sin, and atonement was required.

It was made clear to the People that those who were aliens and chose to dwell among them were to be treated with respect, and with the same consideration one would give to his own, to abide with them in love, in fact.

But this is Old Testament law, by which we are not bound.  Really?  Jesus said, Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. (Matthew 5:17 KJV) And then He reiterated the law of love, stating that the two greatest commandments were to love God, and to love your neighbor.  Then he upped the ante when He said, But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you. (Matthew 5:44 KJV)

Thus I am asking myself this morning, Mister, are you living the love that Christ showed to you, and demands from you?

Probably to shut off the news channels and open the Bible would be of great benefit to most of us.

Strolling Around the Yard

 BLT time!

 The hen's brood of chicks.

What the heck? "Banana pepper"?  I think not.

Tom

This is Tom.  I am not sure whether or not that is a diminutive for "Thomas," and it really doesn't much matter.  We don't own a cat, and yet we have a cat.

Tom belongs to the next-door neighbor.  Tom is outdoors a lot, and for the most part he prefers our yard to his own.  I don't much mind this so long as he is merely resting, not trampling, mind you, amongst the flowers.  There he is in a bare spot in front of our foundation and behind the columbines.

Certain of his behaviors are less benign, yet he is usually circumspect. Tom is not friendly, but neither is he aggressive.  I can sweet-talk him so long as I stay at least six feet distant from him.  An inch closer, however, and Tom is like the kitty in the old country song, a couple of lines of which say, He's movin' on, he's movin' on. He ripped a stitch when he hit the ditch, and he's movin' on.

We, the cat and I, have an accommodation.  I tolerate him, and he doesn't demand title to the property he co-opts.

Project (Continued)

 Then imagine the view when seated rather than standing.

 Last evening, a neighbor had an overnight visitor.

 I was fortunate to get these shots at sundown.

My Dad's '56 Ford had exactly this color scheme, though his was a fordor Custom rather than a Crown Vic.

Natatorium

A last look at our view from the screened room, for when that project 

,

is completed, well, I guess we'll still have rooftops.  And it won't be a "see-through" fence, either.

The neighborly thing to do, of course, is to smile and tell the people what a wonderful new pool they have!

And it is a fantastic pool: you could hold the Olympics in it, if only there were  room in the yard for the stands.

But can I muster sufficient hypocrisy to plaster on the smile?

My Neighbor's Backyard

Our next-door neighbor's backyard.

 This is a hole in our neighbor's backyard.

This is the digger that made the hole in our neighbor's backyard.

This is the (biased) tale of the digger that made the hole in our neighbor's backyard.

The neighbor inspired the (biased) tale of the digger that made the hole in our neighbor's backyard.

T'he former pool of the neighbor (who) inspired the (biased) tale of the digger that made the hole in our neighbor's backyard

was removed.

And the shade tree was removed.

And the neighbor asked if we were okay with equipment moving from the street to the backyard via the (very narrow) strip of grass between our houses.

Well, he did ask.  vanilla is a nice guy, if not a prince.

He said, Okay, so long as the ground isn't wet and soft.

The digger is now in the backyard.  Look in the hole.  It has considerable water in it

It came from the skies.

The forecast calls for a week of considerable rain.

The digger may or may not be able to continue work on the hole.

vanilla is not going to be pleased, well, I mean he will be less pleased than he is now, if the digger is removed from the backyard anytime soon.

You may think vanilla has a serious case of the envies because he is not getting a new humungous pool in his backyard.

Not so.

BBBH wanted to look for a property that had a pool when we bought this place, and

I told her if we bought such a place the first thing we would have to do would be to 

fill in the pool.

But the neighbor has a real case of the envies, for he admitted that the removal of the very nice hard-walled above-ground pool that was removed was not getting it, because the family and friends had deserted it in favor of his mother-in-law's in-ground pool.

So, seriously, he needed to find a way, expense be hanged, to get the party back in his backyard.

So the (biased) tale of the digger that made the hole in the neighbor's backyard

will continue through the chapters of construction and so on and so on, concluding with

Noisy parties in my neighbor's backyard.