Monday, April 23, 2012

Beyond My Fence

There is great beauty beyond my back fence.  I love that the fields are allowed to thrive with wild flowers, grasses, trees and greenery.  The horses run wild and birds sing an irresistible song that lures me into the thicket to search for Killdeer nests and rabbit warrens.  Each breath brings the scent of dew on grass and sun on earth.  I feel fortunate to live in this place and so enjoy sitting on the patio, knitting while I watch and breathe it all in.
 
There is great sadness beyond my front driveway!  It is such a contrast to the fields beyond the back that I have cried what seems like a gallon of tears.  I want beauty there too but life has intervened.  Our neighbor, a single mom with two daughters, has fallen victim to the ugliness of life today.  There are eviction notices on the door and windows and her belongings, all of them, have been thrown on the lawn like garbage in a landfill.  Our neighbor is gone...just gone and she never told us she was in trouble.
 
City Hall says that the real estate office renting the house is, "Making plans to pack up the things and dispose of them."  That certainly doesn't make me feel any better, especially since it rained this weekend.  I asked if we could get together a group of neighbors to pack the belongings and store them for her.   The answer was that we would be arrested for trespassing. 
 
I'm sorry this post isn't about happy knitting and playing with the fur-babies and laughing with the grandchildren.  The beauty beyond my back fence is the best I can do right now.

Half finished:

6 comments:

Nancy said...

Your neighbor's situation makes me very sad. Who threw her belongings out of the house? the real estate people? the bank?

This post will be on my mind all day. Life is so harsh. I pray the mother and her children have found a safe place to stay.

kathy b said...

Half finished looks amazing. Beautiful.

So sorry about the neighbor and sadness of the situation. Keep looking out the back!

SissySees said...

!!!! I don't know which emotion dominates... anger or saddness. Prayers for you and your neighbors. How utterly tragic, on all fronts.

Grace said...

such sad news, but so sweet of you to want to help---i hate bureaucratic indifference! It is totally mind numbing.

kathy b said...

any progress on the awful lawn?

Katherine said...

No progress!! I called City hall, along with a dozen or so of our neighbors and we were told a code violation has been issued for the real estate company. I was about to call the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and see if a reporter could light a fire under them but then the neighbor next door to the house said that the woman has been coming during the night, for the last few nights, packing all she could into her car. I don't want to do anything that will make it impossible for her to take what she wants and needs. In fact, I'm thinking of setting my alarm and getting up to go see if I can help her. Bill is willing to bail me out if I get arrested. Ha ha!

In any event, the city says they will not let it go on past tomorrow. They plan to have a cleaning crew out on Friday to clear everything away. I hope she can get what she needs before then. What a sad sad thing!!

Thanks for caring.