At least he doesn't have a chainsaw

At least he doesn’t have a chainsaw


Every morning while I drink my tea I sit in a chair by some windows and watch the birds and critters in my backyard. Sadly, there have been very few hummingbirds so far this year, but the squirrels and chipmunks have been very active, especially this morning. Because of the way my house is oriented, I don't really have to worry about anyone seeing me through the window. Even though three yards do have views of my yard, the trees make it difficult to see my windows.

This morning, though, I noticed some movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see a guy looking at me from just outside our fence! He wandered away once I looked at him, but came back a minute later waving a large pipe of some kind. A few minutes later a couple of other guys joined him. They appear to be doing something involving the pump for my neighbors' pool. I suppose it's kind of sad, but after the initial shock at making eye contact with the guy faded, my main thought was just relief that he didn't have a chainsaw.

One day over the winter I was home alone and about to let the dogs out into the backyard when I glanced out the window and stopped in shock. There was a man standing under a tree in the backyard, not far from the door, holding a chainsaw. As I stood there gaping at him, he glanced up and saw me . . . and then started revving the thing like someone in a horror movie. I just stood there, trying to figure out what to do. He then starting cutting up a large part of a tree that was lying in the yard. Apparently the neighbor was have a giant pine tree removed, and because it was right against our fence they were lowering the sections into my yard instead of their own.

I was furious. We have locks on the gates into our yard and I would have thought that would convey the message that people aren't welcome there without permission, but they just hopped the fence without even asking or letting us know. Imagine if I had let the dogs out without realizing?! Kelly would have been frantic to get back in the house, but Stitch would have gone after the guy - and dog versus chainsaw just isn't going to end well for anyone.

I couldn't decide what to do, but I was really afraid they were going to damage our trees and I wanted to be sure to document everything, so I stood at the window snapping pictures while I called Caradorn. He went out and talked to them after he got home, and I thought that we had everything settled after that. We gave them permission to use our yard as long as they didn't damage the trees or our fence. They said they'd finish up as soon as possible and be out of our way.

We went out for most of the afternoon and evening, and it was dark when we got home. I grabbed a flashlight to go out and be sure everything was okay, and I was shocked at what I found. Large braches of one of our trees were pinned to the ground under huge pieces of the pine tree. More chunks of the pine were balanced drunkenly against our fence, pushing it slightly outward. We moved what we could but most of the chunks were much too large for us to budge.

By the next morning I was glued to the window waiting for the tree people to get back. I am a very nonconfrontational person most of the time, but at this point I was livid. Just before they showed up I went out to take pictures of the way they had left everything, and I was still doing that as they pulled up. They didn't seem to like that at all, and immediately ran over and stood in front of me. They especially seemed unhappy when I was taking pictures of their company trucks. They wanted to know the problem, so I told them. In great detail. Loudly. One of the guys made the mistake of telling me that they might have no choice but to damage our tree and fence, and that "These things happen". Not smart. By the end they were apologizing profusely, as was the neighbor. They also agreed to pay to replace anything that they damaged.

In the end things worked out okay, but I think I scared my neighbor. And of course I will never use or recommend that tree service - they have shown that they have no respect for personal property.

I don't think these new people will have any reason to come into our yard today, but I notice they keep glancing this way. Hopefully the neighbor has told them to steer clear of me. I'll be keeping an eye on them, though, just in case!