Dam, Trees

Mum has a pond on the land to which she belongs (we don't own land, it owns us). It is not a Nature-made pond, but is the result of a dam. She didn't build the dam - prospectors made it during the Dahlonega gold rush, long before she was born. One of these days, I'll bring my gold-panning pan up there and play around, see what I find...after all, they must have had a good reason to do all that work!

The pond is close to the boundary.

Someone bought the land adjacent to her and decided to build in the woods. They decided to cut down lovely old trees and place their house withing sight of the pond - and definitely closer to the boundary lines than local codes permit. They are almost on the line. So much for little bothersome things like setbacks.

See the house? And the garage? I took this while standing beside one of the little trees we planted.

That caged tree on the left? I was standing a few feet to the left of that one.

Mum was a bit put off by the proximity of these rude, loud, inconsiderate people who broke laws and ignored building codes. She wouldn't have minded sharing her pond...if they'd been decent about it. Instead, they paved, cut, built where they shouldn't, and generally had a "fuck you" attitude about things. The feel like they are entitled to the view, law and local ordinance be damned.

Well.

Really, it doesn't do to rile Mum. She's not all sweetness and light like me (you hush, T...I hear you snickering).

She thought about how to get back at these bad neighbors.

I was all for an old, rusted out Ford, painted pink and chartreuse with purple spots, set just on her side of the property line. And giant, solar-powered light-up flamingos. And bright spotlights that stayed on all night long - you know, in case of marauding Yetis or something.

She laughed, but how would we get the Ford down there? And we couldn't find flamingos horrible enough for her needs. The light would disturb the wildlife, too...and we don't want to punish the creatures who live in the woods, just the ones in the house.

What to do, what to do?

Trees.

She decided to plant trees.

First, a line of curly-willows near the pond - they will provide shade and somewhere for birds to perch, and if they overhang the pond then frogs and turtles will have places to hang about without fearing the herons.

Next will come the Leland Cyprus trees. They grow tall, wide, and swift. She'll plant them closer to the boundary, and within a few years they'll completely block all view of the pond from that other house. They will be green and thick even in Winter. Mum won't have the lovely woods back again, but at least she won't have to see that house sitting there, hunched on the property line, staring down at her when she sits or walks beside the pond.

These folks thought they could scoff at the law and have their way...but they didn't reckon on Mum's creative streak.