Have I got neighbors?

This is the front lawn of our home (a half twin we share with another family). Recently our neighbors put up some new "lawn ornaments" -- a surveyor's stake and two no tresspassing signs on the line between our adjoining properties. The signs face our side of the building -- they're hard to see in this photo, but in real life it's rather jarring. "What's up with that?" you might ask...

The saga of the signs
Last Sunday afternoon, I returned home from the barn to find a policeman at our door. When I saw the uniform, my heart stopped. My step-son, who was driving up to see us via the turnpike that afternoon, was late. Car wreck. I thought. The policeman, whose name I later learned was Sandy, looked very subdued. Was he here to deliver bad news? Horrible news? Oh, God. "Is it an emergency?" I sqeaked? "Oh, no!" he assured me. "I can come back later, but I need to speak to your husband." Bob was in the back yard picking weeds. I let the policemen in the door and ran to retrieve my husband.

What would a law enforcement officer want with us? It turns out, our next door neighbor Victor has summoned the police. We have been accused of trespassing. Why? Because when Bob mowed our postage-stamp sized lawn, he curved the mower around a tree and trespassed onto their property by perhaps one foot. This infringement deeply troubled Victor, and apparently the neighbors heard him voicing his concerns -- on volume 10 -- to his wife. Bob wears ear protection when mowing, and he was mowing the back yard during our neighbor's high-volume solilioquy. So while we were surprised by the police visit, the rest of the neighborhood was not.

Our brush with the law

Sandy looked pained as he explained our infraction, and apologized for intruding into our afternoon. He was embarrassed, and I was embarrassed for him. Who would trouble our men in blue over something like this? Sandy seemed to want some background on our neighbor relations. To be honest, we don't interact with Victor and his family much, and when we do he's actually pretty pleasant. Victor's grievances are relayed to us by police, other neighbors, zoning officials, or animal control. Victor called animal control last year when he noticed our cat sitting on his fence. The animal control guy (also apologetic) said he would need to fine us if he was called a second time. That's when Bob screened in our back porch to create a 12X12 outdoor cat cage. We have cat toys and cat perches and logs and cat scratchers. Our cats love it.

This kind of thing comes and goes. Stress in Victor's life seems to precipitate incidents, either with with us or other neighbors. At the moment, our Victor and his wife are remodelling, and it seems to be causing family friction. One overhears things when one lives in proximity to others. Saturday, I heard shrieking voices and doors slamming next door, on and off, all afternoon. Sunday Bob mowed the lawn and the police came.

It's the neighborly thing to do...
At least we are not singled out. Any neighbor doing an addition to their home or re-paving their driveway can expect Victor will call the township to find out if there is a permit on file, or to complain about noise. Sandy offered some perspective. It seems every town has one or two of these folks. A little crazy, a little too much time on their hands. We happen to live next door to someone who is unusually concerned with territory -- which is odd and unfortunate in a tightly packed neighborhood. Sandy offered to call the zoning officer for us and to assist us in documenting the problems we've had with Victor. We didn't jump at the chance but maybe we should.


Oh, back to the signs -- the ones in the picture above. I got home last night and saw the two signs and the stake with the neon ribbon on it. Victor had a surveyor out to establish the property line between our two half-twins (the seam on the house was apparently insufficient). The stake is result of the surveyor's work, and Victor told one of our neighbors the stake and the signs will remain there to delineate the property line. Last night, for the first time ever, Bob spoke of moving. But what would prospective buyers think of these signs? He is at a loss.

My reaction? Oh, well, so we live next door to a family straight from central casting. At least I can blog about it....