Boo Radley's Fence

I don't think I've mentioned it here, but I often call Mars "The Boo Radley House." If you haven't read "To Kill a Mockingbird" in a while, Boo Radley is the neighborhood recluse, who all the kids are afraid of, and he lives in a broken down old house:

The Radley Place jutted into a sharp curve beyond our house. Walking south, one faced its porch; the sidewalk turned and ran beside the lot. The house was low, was once white with a deep front porch and green shutters, but had long ago darkened to the color of the slate-gray yard around it. Rain-rotted shingles drooped over the eaves of the veranda; oak trees kept the sun away. The remains of a picket drunkenly guarded the front yard — a “swept” yard that was never swept — where johnson grass and rabbit-tobacco grew in abundance.

Mars is, of course, in much better shape than that, but compared to the million-dollar renovated homes around here, it's a little bit of a Boo Radley house, with its faded vinyl siding, the rotting white picket fence, and a patch of front yard that is basically the neighborhood litter box.

This morning, during some much-needed rain, the rotten post on the long side of the fence finally gave in:

Well, this is exciting.

Noticing the rot in the posts some time ago, we've been trying to figure out what to replace it with for a long time, & have just been putting it off. Then, this whole thing happened last summer: one day, our friend Brian accidentally bumped his car into one of the pickets on the short side & cracked it. No problem, Brian, we're getting ready to take it down anyway. Well, a few weeks later, the broken picket was surreptitiously replaced while we weren't home. Shortly afterward, I ran into our neighbor Irene in the grocery store, & the mystery was solved. Irene is a wonderful person who keeps the street gutters and drains clear of leaves, who removes the weeds from around the vacant house across the street, & who generally takes responsibility for the appearance of the block. As it happens, Irene built the fence for the elderly previous owner. She still had spare pickets in her garage, so one day she just up & decided to replace the picket for us.  So kind! Also, so awkward, because how can I possibly take the fence down now, after she did this favor for us?!

Well, at least the decision about when to take down the fence has been made. I'll take the shorter side down later today, & we'll just leave it open, I guess, until we decide what to do. Kitties of the neighborhood rejoice! No more pesky fences in the way of the litter box!

Off to find a chiffarobe to bust up.