Before I started keeping this scintillating weblog, I had an encounter with one of my neighbors over a tree, or more specifically the leaves of the tree. Seems he was miffed that the tree was dropping leaves on his property, and he came to my door one day and blustered on about how he had talked to the Authorities and was within his rights to Take Steps. I thought not more of it: his reputation preceded him, and I wasn’t all that interested in hearing his complaints, especially about something as ephemeral as birch leaves.
Imagine my surprise when I returned from taking my kids to school and found a ladder leaning across my fence and two freshly-painted (!?) stumps where there used to be large limbs. Now, realize this tree is 50-60 feet tall, and the limbs that were removed are at about 8-10 feet. Is it likely the offending leaves came from the now-removed branches? Or perhaps from the higher ones that actually cross into his airspace?
He got a sternly-worded certified letter making him aware that in this timber loving state, damaging a tree not your own carries a treble damages penalty.
Now I have another neighbor who wants to have some branches removed from our towering cedrus deodara that is threatening to turn her yard into a moss garden. She called me on the phone a week or so ago to let me know what she wanted to do and that she would pay for it, and tonight stopped by to drop off a written note, listing all the agreed-upon details for my approval.
Gee, they couldn’t be more different in their approaches, could they?
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