There’s an old saying that goes “Good Fences Make Good Neighbours”. And… well… I’m starting to agree.
Look at me and Prada! We’re best of neighbours and friends… and low and behold… there’s a fence!!! She stays on her side, I stay on mine… sometimes we meet in the middle. She often arrives at my place in her bare feet and housecoat… but I hate the way my bare feet feel on her aggregate stone driveway. I’m wondering now if she did that on purpose as well!!!
There’s something to be said for maintaining ones privacy. There’s also something to be said for keeping the kids off the lawn… or the footballs, Frisbees, bikes and dogs. And definitely something to be said for keeping your weeds on your own side!
I’m reminded of one of my favorite Robert Frost poems called “Mending Wall“. It’s about two neighbours who walk the property between their houses in the Spring to mend the stone wall that came down over the Winter… because “good fences make good neighbours”. I’d forgotten that poem.
I should have remembered that poem.
By building a fence, you’re keeping the kids and toys out… but you’re also keeping your privacy in.
We all need our boundaries.
I’m good with the kids in the yard, running around and playing… hearing their laughter through my windows. I love the giggling… I can hear it through my kitchen fan even when every window in my house is closed. The children toboggan there… and the laughter is infectious! I’m not bothered by the worn grass where they toboggan in the Winter or play soccer baseball in Summer. I like that they play there.
But my neighbours are building a fence today.
And it’s probably a good thing.
Canada Day was celebrated in Doha, Qatar with food and drink, fun, music, and dancing. There were recitations, a Canadian song sing-a-long, and a citizenship quiz where someone actually knew the name of the famous street in the North West Territories!! Did you get it? Raggety Ass Road.