Monday, July 2, 2007

No Fences

Let’s talk about fences. The other day, CK mentioned that she and little K had come to visit me for Fathers day last year. While well lubricated, she observed that the yards surrounding my friend’s house were unfenced. That seems to be the norm around here. Dogs run free (and shit free) in yards, kids run through any yard they choose (hope they step in their own dog’s shit) and no one seems to care.

A fence just isn’t a big thing in the Midwest. For one, lumber is expensive. Two, the wind (AKA tornado) tends to take them down whenever they wish. We lived in Texas for a couple of years and it was the same there. A fence must be a West Coast thing. There we had lots of redwood and cedar to cut down. Everyone there values (demands) their privacy.

In the Midwest they still think of the open range (where the deer and the buffalo roam) so fences only detract from the values embraced here. All considered, I don’t care, give me a fence. It keeps the shit out, the deer out (haven’t seen any buffalo lately) and I don’t have to worry about some trespassing kid getting hurt on my property.

8 comments:

Bellevelma said...

I don't know about the West Coast, but I can tell you that on the East Coast, at least where I live, you'd be hard pressed to find a home that doesn't have a fence. And most are at least 5 feet high. Which makes for a real pain when your kid's soccer ball lands in the neighbor's back yard and you have to knock on their front door to get someone to retrieve the ball for you. And then it happens again not 3 minutes later...

CamiKaos said...

I remember not having a fence in Texas. Stupid dogs, and pigs.... EVERYWHERE.

Makes me sound like a dog hater, I love dogs, I just hated waking up to the sound of our neighbors dog dog paddling in our pool.

julie said...

I love fences.

Love,
Julie the West Coaster

Bubblewench said...

fences are definately big here in PA.... In this day and age of lawsuits, you need them. I'm with you DK, keep the 'others' shit out!!

mielikki said...

Mom and Dad's neighbors on the hill finally put up some fences, when they got some asses to roam! Thank God for fences!

sybil law said...

I love the fences. I also live in the midwest, and around here, anyway, they are big. Certain subdivisions won't LET you put in a fence, which I think is sort of like, "WHY do I OWN this house and land? So you can tell me what to DO with it?!", and I would never, ever live in one of those places!
Good fences really do make good neighbors.

sybil law said...

Oh yeah - Daddy Kaos - I thought you should know that Cami and I have decided we are like twins. Any thoughts on this twinliness? My "mom" used to joke that they bought me from the gypsies... you guys aren't gypsies, are you?! :)
Anyway, I am linking you on my blog. Otherwise, Cami would beat me up.

DaddyKaos said...

I wonder……did all Baby Boomers tell their kids they came from Gypsies? If so, there must have been quite a few of them or one very prolific band that really took the go forth and multiply thing seriously. It seems to be more common with girls, maybe the gypsies always have girls to counteract what the Chinese do to ensure an abundance of boys.

As far as the twinship, that’s good. NanaK had a twinsie in my little sister. I have to look twice at some photos sometimes to figure out who it is.