My Neighbor

For some reason my next door neighbor appears to hate us. We don't throw raucous parties or have a dog that leaves messes on their lawn. Sure, we have kids who leave their riding toys outside but mostly these are in the back. And no, our lawn is not perfectly manicured like theirs is but I've never been a lawn buff and am certainly no fan of the amount of chemicals it would take to get it "perfect."

So we're flummoxed.

We have a detached garage but it's way in the back. To get there we have to drive up a long, narrow driveway and backing up on this would be even worse. So we park halfway up the drive where it's not as steep, just like many of our neighbors on this street. It's a condition of old neighborhoods. Also our driveway is right up against their property line so when we exit our van on the passenger side we have to step on their lawn. In the past I've asked the husband if this was okay and he seemed perfectly fine with it as we were stepping on the lawn (not getting it muddy) or on a part of the landscaping that was mulch.

But last fall a plant suddenly showed up right where the kids exit the van. Even worse, it was a crimson barberry. You know, those extremely prickly shrubs? For a lawn as perfect and perfectly coordinated this small bush is an anomaly. And yet there it sits, insidiously growing it's thorns.

Today our Easter surprise was a political sign planted smack dab on our property line. Seriously! I half laughed and half got angry. In a world where the barberry was a subtle hint the political sign is a megaphone. Take a look at the pictures below. I mean, you can't see the sign coming down one side of the street because it is blocked by our van and from the other direction it is way back on their property behind a small rise in their yard. They usually put their signs up by the light post.

Is this the "class act" behavior I am to expect from a cultured New Yorker?