Mending Fences
“You have those two friendly black dogs, don’t you? I saw them running down the street and they ran back through the gate at the end of your fence.”
I hoped they were not my two black dogs. I must have looked worried.
She quickly remarked–I”m not the Animal Control Officer, I’m just here to do a survey of people living in this neighborhood.
After a few questions about how many people lived in this house–just the two of us and neither of us fitting the description of ‘children’ by chronology–maybe by thoughts and occasionally actions–cake for breakfast? Why not! any ice cream to go with that?
An inspection of the fence was in order.
And there it was. A spot that they loved to peer under the fence to stare at the garbage truck rumbling down the street; barking furiously as it picks up our garbage can and sets it back down–and assorted passerbys…all needing notification that ‘there be dogs here’.
Off to Lowe’s to pick up some fencing materials. The wire had been a previous addition to prevent escapes. Now I needed to do something.
It isn’t pretty but it is all on the inside toward us. But first I had to chop away at the fallen crepe myrtle so that I could get to the fence without climbing through branches. I did plenty of that in my younger years when we canoed the Kickapoo and had to crawl through trees that were dangling over and in the river.
And yes, those are nails–not screws. I do know how to use a drill and I even know where it is–but holding up that board while pushing on a drill was just not something I could manage. Now that the board is in place, I can put some screws in–when the dogs aren’t there to help me.
While I was mending the fence–something I end up doing nearly every summer–Border Collies can be very creative in finding ways out–to go check out the neighbors’ garbage–they throw away the best treats–turkey legs and pre-gnawed ribs, I thought about how mending that fence might be a lot like mending relationships—finding a problem, figuring out a method of repair, gathering the tools and supplies that fit one’s skill set; applying the solution–imperfect but yet does the job.
Until they find another way out of the yard!
Sylvia Weir Art 