Okay, so I'm riding in the car with my mom the other day and I noticed this house on the corner of 50th and Grove doesn't have a fence. Those of you that know me even a little bit know that I'm a scared-e-cat, paranoid, whatever. I've had a fear since I was little of someone breaking into my house....and of a house fire...and of being shot at. Wow, tangent, ANYWAY! So when I saw the house with no fence I was like "WHOA! I would not be able to sleep at night without a fence!" Then I kind of called myself out because I grew up my entire life with a chain-link fence which is basically...let's be real...invisible. I mean, it divides backyards I guess, but it doesn't really keep anyone out. While the chain-link it's really stylish...I like being able to see if my neighbors were outside, what they were doing, be able to pseudo-pet their dog,and be able to easily hop over it to get the softball we hit into their yard.
Now, I never grew up with the wooden fence so obviously I'm speaking into something with which I have had little or no personal perspective or experience. The little experience I have had with them...I think they make a yard look and feel smaller. And for some reason, they seem to be the ones always falling over in the great wind storms of the mid-west. They are more aesthetically pleasing-I will give you that. I don't know...I just feel so closed in with them.
Regardless of which you have or grew up with...unless you're putting Master locks on your gates, friendly wanderers can still pass through your backyard...fence or no fence. Personally, I think I'm going to take an older house with a chain link fence so I can see my neighbors and pretend to share one big backyard instead of have a new home, not know my neighbors, and feel like I have a tiny yard and can't breathe in mine.
What do you think?
6 comments:
well, my experience with fences is quite extensive, so i will give my expert opinion:
-chain-link fences: as they do facilitate peeking into your neighbor's yard and pseudo-petting of nearby dogs, that is pretty much all they are good for.
-wood fences: as i am upset i can't see into my neighbors yard without standing on the bottom post on my tip toes, i do prefer it so that my neighbors can't see into MY backyard. lets face it: my dog screws up my yard and its rather pathetic.
now, as to the issue about neighborly friendliness: it is not facilitated by chain-link fences any more than having a wood fence discourages it. now, if (in your new house in a new neighborhood) you decide to drive into your garage, shut the garage door, and never reappear until the morning when going to work, then that discourages communication more than the type of fence you have, in my experience.
at the old house (chain-link fence) we talked to our neighbors just as much as we talk to our new neighbors (wood fence). now, i'd say we're about "moderate" in our level of outside activity and friendliness we show during our outings (mowing, walking the dog, planting flowers and herbs (yeah!), etc) its more the attitude you protrude, and what kind of neighbor you want to be that determines these things, not type of fence.
DON'T BE FENCED IN, CARA! :) you can be whatever kind of neighbor you want, no matter the type of fence! haha!
(i love INSTANTLY forming opinions on things!)
if fences don't matter in the sense of "security," but simply are efforts from keeping a dog from running away - i prefer the best of both worlds: a short wooden fence with a space (about the size of a post) every other post. that way, you can still see neighbors and please the eye. or an iron fence, again, short with gaps in between.
I'm thinking of Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall."
"Fences make good neighbors."
I like invisible fences - haha. dog purposes only of course and my girls know better so it's not even necessary! Actually I just want to win the lottery so I can acquire property where neighbors are spread out and fences seriously aren't needed - like at my parents on the water! what more security do you need with snakes bordering the bulkhead keeping an eye on boat invaders (aka the weekly tourists that don't realize the water is only knee deep so they all get their motors stuck and look like idiots)? my grandparents have a chain link. my in-laws have a wooden. I don't think I grew up with either - our backyard was the size of a bathroom. The doghouse attached to the garage so she could sleep in the garage but walk in through the dog house, and that took up the backyard plus herbs and weeds :).
that is true... enough land so you don't have to worry about peeking neighbors is the best idea. so then, in that situation, it doesn't really matter what kind of fence you have just as long as it keeps the dog in. (interpretation: the cheapest)
From a boys stand point, wood fences are better for one major reason. They allow for easier access to the roof, and who doesn't like to go for a stroll on the roof every now and then. Or place the impossible Easter Egg for your sister to find so you win every year.
Post a Comment