Privacy

 8/28/2020

Today, I'm going to "talk" (i.e., blog) about privacy. Jeff and I left California for Maryland in 1986. Once we arrived in Maryland, we could, very quickly see that privacy here was at a premium (i.e., you have very little).

Even while our house was being built, we checked on the progress every weekend. And, we were stunned to find a couple upstairs in one of the bedrooms. Really? It's not your house, so what the heck are you doing here?

Our house sits higher than said neighbors. But, when we encountered these people, they told us that they were checking on how much we could see from a particular bedroom. This bedroom has a side window that possibly could or can see into their den.

They also had concerns about what kind of "window coverings" we were going to have on the first floor. I asked if they meant curtains, but apparently there not the same thing.

We've been in our house for 32 years. You remember that side window? Well, 32 years ago, we put up blinds. These blinds, haven't been opened in all these years. Why? Well Scarlett, frankly because I don't give a damn, about the neighbors.

Jeff and I might not be interested in you, and/or yours, the people around us, are interested. We have an HOA, which during the course of a year, drive around to nit-pick looking for something wrong with your house. One year, it was a piece of siding that fell down during a storm, and simply won't stay put. Believe me, we've tried.

Trash can on the left side of your driveway, is a no no. Your must put your garbage on the right side of your driveway. Again, Scarlett makes another appearance. However, to make peace, if you will, our garbage and recycling are all on the correct side of the driveway.

We have an "old lady" (really a man), who monitors closely things around his house. A neighbor stacked some firewood on the side of their house. Guess who became all twisted about this wood? Yup, you guessed right.

This week, a neighbor who is behind us, came over to have us sign our permission, for them to build a stockade fence. How high this fence will be, hasn't really been shared with us. But, if I were to guess, I'll say five feet. 

When put in a fence around the backyard, we made sure that the fence was erected on our side of our property. 

We have a very large window in the kitchen, that is directly across the backyard and faces the neighbor's kitchen window. We planted Leland Cypress trees on our side of the yard, to block out this neighbor's view. Alas, after 32 years, the cypress trees are still standing, but looking tired, and branches are dying.

While this neighbor wanted us to give our permission for the fence, he also just happened to mention that we had a dead tree in our backyard. Again, why would this matter to him? We are aware of this tree, but have not taken it down, for no particular reason. When you take down multiple trees, even old and very thin ones, you obviously have to have a tree company, take down the trees.

Jeff and I, have been careful to give privacy to all our neighbors. In return, we don't ask for much, just give us privacy as well. 

In the evenings, I shut my blinds that are in our kitchen. The window in question, is directly across from the neighbor's window. Hence, the closing of the blinds. Based on where our house sits, we get afternoon sun on the back of our house. coming into that part of the house. Makes sense when you think about it.

The quote for the day: "Remember that a successful marriage depends on two things: (1) finding the right person and (2) being the right person".

Have a good weekend everyone. See you on Monday.

P