Our Fence

We have a chain link fence that goes around our backyard.  We did not install this fence.  It was already there when we bought our house.  A few years ago, the neighbors to the north of us put up a privacy fence.  They said they were putting up the fence because of their dog.  I'm beginning to think they may have just said this to assuage any hard feelings since their dog is rather small and the fence is rather tall.  They have since moved on, no doubt putting up fences in new places.  Their tall fence remains, forcefully delineating the north side of our yard.  Our little chain link fence still runs along side it.  I suppose we could remove our fence - it is a little silly to have two fences side by side within inches of each other.  Still, I like my fence and I see no reason why I should go through the hassle of removing it just because of a foolish decision a former neighbor made.

You can barely see the fence on the west side of our yard.  That's the back of our yard and the fence is buried behind pine trees and a garden shed.  There is one small opening next to the shed.  Our neighbors on the other side have a shed back there as well.  Occasionally, we'll chat if we happen to both be getting something from our sheds at the same time.

The fence on the south side of our yard is by far the most exposed and beaten portion of all.  Whereas the other two sides run level, the south side dips a little in the middle.  It is also the only part of the fence that has rust - just a light layer, along the top rail.  This section of fence has been climbed and jumped countless times by my sons and by my neighbor's sons.  My neighbor's oldest son is the same age as my youngest son.  They also have another son a few years younger and now a new daughter.

A few years ago, we discussed with our neighbors the possibility of putting in a gate.  Removing the fence wasn't a viable option since they have a dog and we have cats and, while the kids play well together, the pets do not.  All parties agreed that a gate would be a great thing to have and it didn't seem overly difficult to do.  Definitely a do-it-yourself project.  Each summer, as we watched kids (and sometime adults) struggle to get over the fence, the gate topic would come up again.  And each fall we'd realize another summer had slipped away and still there was no gate in the fence.  By now, the boys are quite adept at leaping the fence and would likely not use the gate even if it was there.  There is, however, a little girl who's not yet walking but will someday need to get on the other side of the fence.  And there are the adults, who are perhaps reaching the age where gate leaping should be avoided.

So, this past weekend, I bought a gate and all the necessary hardware.  Everything's piled carefully in the garage.  The kids on both sides of the fence are excited at the prospect of it.  I am excited as well.  I think the gate will provide a nice counter-balance to the privacy fence opposite it. 

Yes, this is the summer we put in the gate.  Let's see, I think we've got something going on tonight and we have baseball games or practice the following three nights.  Next weekend I might be able to work on it, except I get this feeling we might have something already scheduled.  Hmm, perhaps this will just be the summer we bought the gate.