FENCES

Cindy & I have lived in our current house for 18 years. It is in an old established neighborhood that is now probably 40 years old, with all ranch homes, except 1 tri-level. The lot sizes range from about a quarter acre to ours of nearly 2/3 an acre.

Most everyone, at least in our nearby group of homes of maybe a dozen or so, are the owners who lived here when we moved in.

One of the things we liked, when we got here, was the open back yards that the homes on our side of the street shared. You could walk from the back of our house, through the neighbors back yards to the next street down...probably the length of a football field...without any obstructions except an occasional storage shed. Not that we did it all the time...but you could make that trip if you wanted. If you were doing dishes and looking out the window over our sink, you could see all the way down to the next street...looking at those neighbors flower gardens, and bird baths, and the squirrels and rabbits running through the yards.

This was in contrast to the new neighborhoods being built up. Not only are the yards not much bigger than the houses that sit on them, they usually have a fence around what yard they do have.

Much like the 'open' look inside a home that I like...where there are fewer walls and you can see from room-to-room...I also like that 'open' look in the neighborhoods, without fences blocking the view of things.

But alas...my desire...and reality...differ.

Several years ago, one of those new neighbors, 3 houses down, moved in and built a fence around their back yard...putting up the first wall to block the neighborhood view. In the last 6 weeks, new neighbors have moved in next door to us. While we were away at Disney...they put up a fence enclosing their back yard.

I don't have hard feelings against them. They have a little boy just a few years old. They will be able to let him step out the back door and play in their yard without wondering if he'll roam off somewhere...or someone getting to him.

But it is one of those things that we so enjoyed...now gone by the wayside.

Sorry to see it gone.


Dan