The Fence: Part 1

"What do you think they're doing?", I asked my neighbor as both of us stood in our back gardens. She was looking over her 4 foot fence and I was standing on my unfenced property.

We were looking at the property behind us. The woods that once was; thick, lush, beautiful. Alas, that is no longer the case. About a month or so ago, the owner of the woods came through and decided he was going to clear part of it and build himself a home there. He then proceeded to mow down about a 10 foot clearing between our properties and put up some massive fence posts. Beyond the posts he left about 5 to 6 feet of trees and then a big clearing where he will build whatever he intends to build.

"Don't really know." said my neighbor. We started speculating. Some of the other neighbors think it might be cattle. That is unlikely as we are zoned as residential. But whatever it is he's doing, it's certainly not adding to the beauty of what it once was. My neighbor and I made the usual tut tut noises about what the world was coming to that people could rip away nature with so little thought and then we left it.



Over the next week or so, we watched sadly as more trees were mowed down. Then one Sunday morning, I look out and saw a new fence. My neighbor's 4 foot fence was now a 6 foot fence. Curious, I went and asked why. "We're not comfortable with strangers and workers being able to see us in our pool." she said. "Plus you now have people walking their dogs back there. So much more traffic since he cleared that path."

She was right. Random people were now using that path to walk their dogs through the woods. I love dogs, but I do not love their owners, especially when they leave little presents on my property for me to clear up. This was getting ridiculous. And the thought of the workers back there and neither Mr. Madbrit nor I home during the day when the construction work begins: all this was rather worrying.

So I broached the subject with Mr. Madbrit. "Honey, I know we said we would never put up a fence, but I've changed my mind." The Hubby was not as sold as I was on the idea. We talked about cost for materials, labor and priced it. He was right about it being ridiculously high. The material itself was reasonable. The labor on the other hand... But I've worked myself into a frenzy by now. I've convinced myself that we will have every irresponsible dog owner let Little Woof Woof use my garden as it's "dumping ground". The construction workers will be using our property for their lunch and potty breaks and since neither of us are home during the day, the house will be pretty vulnerable. No, I wasn't liking this at all.

"I'll ask around for recommendations for fencers", I told Mr. Madbrit. Someone at work will know of someone. With that thought, the next day, I went to work and asked the first person I saw, my boss Jay.

"Why do you want to put up a fence?" he asked. I told him the situation. "Do it yourself. Far far cheaper." he says. I shook my head. Neither myself nor Mr. Madbrit would ever be mistaken for Bob the Builder. I told Jay this. But by now, Jay had that gleam in his eye. An idea was forming in his head and I could see him churning thoughts through his mind. I began to get a little worried. He predictably ignored what I said.

"How big is your property?" he asked. I told him. "Let's go and see it now.". And the next thing I know, I'm driving Jay back to the house and he's trampling through the woods hmming and hawing at what he sees. He's not pleased. He's disgusted for us. "We'll get the fence up. You, me, Mr. Madbrit. It can be done in a day or so." he says with full conviction. "You can't be living with all that stuff going on behind you. You'll need your privacy."

Okay, wait a minute now. Didn't I just tell you that we were not handy with tools?? Jay waves the protest away. He's a man on a mission now. He's already taken mental measurements and started hammering the posts into the ground. Jay is like a rip tide. There's no point fighting it. Just best to go along with it until you're released. So we head back to work, I give him the measurements and he gives me what I will need to get for the material. I then call Mr. Madbrit and break the news to him. Bless him, he knows better than to fight this one. We agree that although we won't enjoy the work, it was a necessary evil and the money saved would be substantial. Plus, by all accounts, whatever we do, the workmanship will be far superior to what we'll get with a hired crew.

And so it stands, this week, hopefully we'll be able to get some material ordered. Have the stuff delivered by next week and the following weekend or the one after, we'll roll up our sleeves and go for it. And when we're done, we'll have the best fence money can buy and the sense of achievement will be gratifying.

If I keep telling this to myself often enough, I'll actually believe it.