CONTINUING SAGA

It's the privacy fence again. Eric and I went to Deck and Fence Company on Saturday to get a bid on a privacy fence. We have a very small amount of area to be fenced. One side of the yard needs 60 feet of fencing. The other side of the yard needs about 85 feet of fencing. And, we need 4 gates to construct 2 eight foot gates so the lawncare people can get their mowers in. There is already chain link fencing around the back yard. The chain link divides the yard so that 60 feet of it is yard and about 25 feet of it is a section at the very back that our neighbor uses for vegetables.

That 25 feet was originally left open because of the school behind our house. It's a huge middle school and directly behind our house is a gigantic soceer field--we are talking acres. The school uses it for athletic events and what they refer to as band practice. The kids had this habit of climbing over the school fence and cutting through our yard as a short cut to their houses. We didn't want problems with those children. For the most part, they aren't criminal--just unpleasant, destructive and noisy.

Basically, they had torn the old school fence into tatters and we knew they would tear our chain link fence into tatters (not to mention how much they would torment our poor dogs) so we fenced the yard so they would have 25 feet for their cutting through behaviors. I don't know why their parents don't take responsibility for them and utilize appropriate discipline.

One of them recently put a dead opposum in the mailbox of one of our neighbors (after the mail rain on Saturday) and by Monday the poor man was out installing a new mailbox. A dead oppossum cooking in St. Louis heat for two days required a new mailbox--not to mention the police and animal control to remove the body. It is my dearest hope that the poor oppossum was already dead before it went into the mailbox. I am refusing the allow myself to think about the level of suffering that poor animal experienced if that brat put it in there alive and allowed the sun to slowly kill it over the course of two days.

Anyway, a few years after we allowed them 25 feet of space, the school put up a new fence about 15 feet high. So, now there is the 15 foot high fence and lots of trees separating our back yard from the soccer field. The trees help deaden the cacaphony somewhat although a soundproof bubble over the entire yard would be nice. We can still hear the kids, but for the most part we can't see them. Apparently, the school put the fear of God in them. It speaks sadly to the state of parenthood that the school had to do it instead of the parents. The kids stopped climbing the fence and started walking to and from school the long way--on sidewalks like normal people.

That left us with 25 feet of never used space. The neighbor (who we like very much) asked if he could use that space of about 25 by 80 feet for vegetables and we said yes. We plan to leave the chain link fence on the back because I have little to no interest in privacy from the vegetable garden or the soceer field. I can easily plant Holly along the inside of that back fence to provide some privacy from the vegetables and further deaden the sound of "band practice". The privacy I want has to do with the sides of the yard.

The bid we got yesterday for basically 140 feet of fencing and 2 wide gates (including installation) was about $12,000.00 before tax. So, I decided to get other bids. Now, admittedly it was for a 6 foot high vinyl fence that allegedly is maintenance free. It's a really nice fence!!!! But, I decided to get another bid anyway. It may end up that I have to spend $12,000. for the fence, but I thought I'd get some other bids. I want a nice looking fence. The house is Eric's and it's a nice house.

There's a privacy fence 6 or 8 blocks from here that I've been admiring since it was installed. So, I stopped by and rang the bell to find out where they got it. The house belongs to a local cop who works night shift. I woke him. I didn't know it was a cop who works night shift. He was very nice in spite of the fact that I woke him. He provided the fencing company. Then, after I left him, I stopped at another house with a relatively new privacy fence and lo and behold, the same company installed it. I had admired it also. It's a local company.

The law allowing privacy fences only came into being about 6 or 8 months ago and so far few people in our city have them. Previously, all that had been permitted were chain link fences. Basically, it appears that this process is going to take much longer than I had hoped. Before the work can be done, I have to submit 2 drawings, pictures, a price quote and Lord knows what else to the city council. Then, they have to approve or disapprove it. This means waiting at least another month for the city council to meet. Then, if they approve it, I can have the work done. Then, it will have to be inspected by the city inspector.

I had hoped to have the privacy fence installed by the end of this week. All I had wanted was the ability to sit in the back yard and read a book without every neighbor watching me. Looks like it is going to take a lot of time and effort to accomplish such a simple goal. But, we forge ahead. I've always had this naive belief that Americans had a right to privacy. I guess, like happiness, we have the right to pursue privacy.