Good Fences...

The old guy behind me recently stopped by to give me the heads up that he was having a new fence put up. He wanted me to know that the workers would be on my property and that the job would most likely be done in one day. Of course, that was all fine with me. He was getting a high-dollar vinyl fence to replace the stockade fence that had seen better days about five years previous. Mr O is a super nice guy. it was the first time that I had occassion to meet him. He's a retired Union electrician and i'm a barely employed, commercial painter so, we had a nice chat about the trades, the economy and life and work in general. He also told a great story about his first day on the job as a soldier in the Korean War.

As they drove towards base camp, he remarked to the driver how smart it was that the tents and the uniforms were white, in preparation for the coming winter.

"We're finally getting smart", he said.

The driver turned as white as the tents. He slammed on the brakes, threw it back into first and spun around a one eighty and got the hell out of there. The Chinese and North Koreans in the camp they had almost entered were too stunned to realize that American G.I.'s had nearly "invaded" them. Mr O and his mates safely found their camp several minutes later. I'll think about that every time I get a little lost in the future.

With the construction of Mr O's fence, I was also able to meet Lynn, a katty korner neighbor of mine, next to Mr O. Her stockade fence- well, what was left of it- was coming down as well. Lynn's a sweet, pre-maturely gray lady about my age. She might be too sweet. With her yard now open, she invited me to take a look and discuss fences.

If she had her druthers, she would take down the remnants of her fence and be done with it. Her children are highschool age, her dog is old and well behaved and she didn't need a fence to corral them. So, why build one? Neighbor Bill's forsythia seemed to be a nice enough "fence" in itself...

It was neighbor Bill who insisted on a fence. Rather, he insisted on Lynn building and paying for a new fence. I had to give a Southern, "Do WHAT now?" to that information. You can ask a neighbor to take down a decaying fence. But, how do you demand that a neighbor put up a new fence in it's place? It seems to me that if I want a fence, I should pay for that fence. If my neighbor wants a high-dollar fence, I should be gratefull that he builds one and that I benefit from it. Hooray for him and hooray for me too. Bill has a different take on the hooray for me aspect of life.

I was too late in planting the seeds of sedition in Lynn's mind. She had already contracted to have a simple, non-treated pine, stockade fence erected. Oh, she appreciated my imput and I bet she wishes we had met a couple of weeks earlier but, she was commited to the fence and the notion of being done with the whole thing as quickly and cheaply as possible. Good fences are said to make good neighbors and now I know this is true.

After Lynn's fence went up, I chatted with Bill's wife about the influx of new fences and how nice it was. She was dissappointed that "her" fence" wasn't of the fancy variety of "my" fence. They had been hoping at least for a more expensive pressure treated fence. Lynn had gotten the least expensive option, much to their dismay. As we talked, their dog ran about my yard. Lily is a pretty collie and very good natured for a dog that has never been trained. I like her. They like the open space of our yards so that Lilly can run about, catching but not actually retrieving balls thrown for her. Yep, it's as if my yard is their yard.

"Ya know", I told her, "I really like Mr O's fence. I think I'd like to put one up here."

With that, I think I knew just how white that fella's face got that day back in Korea.