Good Fences May Make Good Neighbors…

…but in a neighborhood like ours, a fence–especially in one’s front yard–belies the sense of community that we so treasure.  My immediate neighbor and fellow artist, Ms. Kathy, has a fence on each side of her home that runs perpendicular to the front sidewalk.  These barriers do not box in the front yard; they serve no purpose other than to indicate property lines.  In all honesty, I’ve always thought they give the impression that we don’t particularly care for each other–which has never been the case.

From the time I moved to the bungalow in early 2008, I had hoped to remove the fence separating Ms. Kathy’s property from mine–an old chainlink eyesore that looked shabby and elicited curses as my mower wheels would get caught in them each week.  I first approached Ms. Kathy about this a year ago, off-handedly mentioning how much more open I thought the yards would look without this fence interrupting the flowerbeds and yards.   The idea was met with resistance, not surprisingly so since the fence had been in place for over thirty years and was all she had known for her yard.  So I retreated, though only temporarily. 

The rusted endpost and fence, victims of a past silver-paint attempt at re-vamping: 

This past spring, as she and I were toiling in our respective flower beds, I lobbed the idea across the fence (literally) for a second time.  This time, however, I came armed with a proposition: If she would agree to do away with the fence, I would remove it–and, if the arrangement hadn’t grown on her by fall, I would replace it with a mutually agreeable style.  I knew she couldn’t turn down this offer, but she surprised me by saying that she had been re-considering the idea since my first mention of it and thought losing the fence would be a great improvement.  It was, she said, really an ugly fence.  Score.

That was a couple of months ago.  With my other large projects, the fence fell to a lower position on my priority list.  Yesterday’s agenda of laundry and attending a baby shower did not a productive Saturday make–so to work I went.  With the assistance of the Brothers Warrenburg, Jimmy and Neil, the fence was down within an hour.  The backyards were secured before the cutting began, to ensure that both pooches would remain safely contained.  The concrete post foundations proved to be a little troublesome, but with a little water (to soften the ground around them), a few beers (to keep the brothers’ motivation high), and a pry bar, we eventually worked them loose. 

The concrete around the base of the post (below) represents only about a third of the amount removed–we were all quite surprised that the concrete to support such a flimsy fence was poured to a depth of almost three feet.

 The fence is gone!

 

The uninterrupted view from my flower bed into hers:

Just as we were removing the last post, Ms. Kathy pulled up in her car with a few girlfriends.  She was thrilled with the result–as were Jimmy and I.  (Jimmy and his wife Ginny live across the street and thus have a straight-on view of this space.)  Later in the evening, Ms. Kathy and I wandered back and forth, inspecting various plants and flowers and tidying up the beds.  Several times she commented on how much she loved the change.  So regardless of Robert Frost’s belief that neighbors need a fence to maintain a good relationship, I believe that Ms. Kathy and I will do just fine without one.