Back yard again

(Isn't there a kids' show with a name like that?)

My back yard is finally usable again after more than a month. The side fence came down when the neighbor cut down the tree it was tied to holding it up. I know, that sounds really ghetto. It's not; it's just time to replace the fence.

But we are renters, which introduces all kinds of complications.

First of all, we couldn't simply negotiate with our neighbor, whom we like and get along with, about replacing the fence. We had to direct him to the property management agency, who had to conduct negotiations with him and the property owner, who lives in the Bay Area. (*#$! Bay Area investors, messing up our real estate market!) So everything took longer than it should have.

Initially, the owner insisted that they repair the fence. The fence is 30 years old and the boards are disintegrating. It's such a delight to have an absentee landlord. Clueless. (I should remember this because I am an absentee landlord with regard to our little pink house in Salt Lake.) The property managers had to come over and take photos to prove to the owner that the fence was really not repairable. Then the owner proposed cedar as a material for the new fence. The neighbor wanted redwood. I don't really know the difference, to tell you the truth, but apparently it was a big deal. Meanwhile, the weeks stretched on.

Also, our monthly rent includes a gardener. We love this. It's so swell to come home every Monday afternoon to a perfectly manicured yard, without a whit of work on our part. However, with the side fence down, the gardener could not get to the back yard. That means no mow, no weed for more than a month. Ugly business. Jungle. While it was so hot, I didn't worry too much about it. It's not like the kids could play outside anyway when it was 113 degrees.

The neighbor apparently got sick of his jungle view and called the property managers to tell them to please send the gardener through his yard to mow ours. And that, my friends, is a good neighbor. The fence is still down. But we are mowed. We are weeded. The grass looks healthier than ever, lush and green. We are eating in the back yard tonight and swinging on the swingset. The temperatures are down to the mid-90s and it's the last week of summer.

We are having another crazy kid birthday party in a couple of weeks, and the property managers guarantee me that the fence will be up by then. Bravo.