As the third-generation owner of my family home I have seen my neighbors come and go, some good, some not so good. Some as fierce as can be and others with hearts of gold. 

There is always one side of our homes that we seem to pay more attention to, which, in my case, is my driveway along one side of my home leading to my garage and the widest part of my property. This wide open space also gives me a bird’s eye view of my neighbor’s home and their wide-open property or rather, what once was a wide-open and most beautifully-manicured and well-maintained property. The space is now filled with a large over-filled storage shed, a rusty and unlicensed construction trailer, piles of rotting firewood with other debris, and chipmunks, squirrels, and other rodents that enjoy living in the rotting firewood and trash pile.

No, I’m not happy to look out upon that property daily. What was once a well-kept yard from the previous homeowner became a hay field during the warm weather which serves as a haven for other creatures that enjoy crossing the property line to my well-kept yard and property.

Many years ago, my grandmother installed a chain-link fence along the shared boundary line. It has served three generations of my family very well, that is, until now. 

To look upon the unkempt and junk-filled neighbor’s property is to cringe and wish that the previous owners had never moved away.

Several months ago the neighbor installed a 6-foot solid fence along the top of his property line and along the public sidewalk next to my driveway. Needless to say, as I drive up my driveway to exit onto our one-way street, my view is zero and totally obstructed for oncoming vehicles of which there are many. I had many close calls inching my way into the street to make a left turn onto the roadway.

The property owner has since taken a few panels of the fencing down with the exception of three panels which makes the entire fence project look like a toothless, poor, and not-very-well-thought-out endeavor. Just add this deconstruction to the rest of the junkyard and you get the idea. 

I have thought about installing those tall and slim privacy hedges along my fence line but I’ll be dead before they grow tall enough to make a difference. There’s also a gas line running along my fencing so the privacy hedge idea is out. I cannot imagine any other simple solution to having irresponsible and uncaring neighbors forcing their bedraggled and shabby property views onto their neighbors.  I don’t think giving my neighbor a copy of Robert Frost’s Mending Wall poem would be of any help!  Now, I always look forward to the snows of winter which will blanket and cover their unsightly chaos. I must say that I haven’t wished for snow in many years, last wishing for the white stuff during my childhood school years when we might have a school cancellation, but I sure DO wish for a snow blanket right now.  Looking at their discombobulated array of piles of scrap and trash is so demoralizing. How can I possibly look away?  Help, Mother Nature, help!