Riled Up

This story doesn't have an end yet, so this is just the introduction.  But I am riled up enough that I have to write it all down before we even get to the punch line, whatever it may be.

Today while we were in the middle of an unusually chaotic CSA morning -- Stephen and Cory were building the next air conditioned room, which is right where we usually fill CSA bags, so we were all discombobulated and working on top of each other with the loud sounds of power tools drowning out our usual mundane vegetable conversation -- when I got a phone call from a number I didn't recognize.  It was the guy who is overseeing the development of Maymont.  He and I have worked together on various issues for about ten years but we haven't had much contact lately. He was calling to let me know that some of our neighbors are complaining about a shed that is unattractive and possibly a hazard.  I told him this was a slippery slope: if our neighbors are asking us to take down a shed now, what will be next?  It was not one of our best conversations (I said we didn't ask the neighbor to take down his house because it is ugly) but I told him to have the homeowner contact me directly.

Then I wrote a follow-up email to him, much more even-handed and moderate in tone, repeating that I would like to talk to the homeowner whose children are apparently endangering themselves by going into this dilapidated structure.

That afternoon I got a brief message from Ashley, the "Assistant Community Manager" writing from her office in Gaithersburg, asking me if we were going to take the shed down, as there had been complaints and it was a safety issue.

Now I was riled up, and I couldn't even take a nap on the couch.  I wrote her back, asking why it was a safety issue.  Was it because people were going into the shed?  On our property?  Again I asked her to tell the homeowner to contact me directly.  I should have asked her what shed she was talking about, and to describe it please, and to tell me where it is. She has no idea. She is some unfortunate person with the job of sending me a message that is coming from a homeowner who doesn't like what he sees when he looks off his deck into our woods.

So then at the common meal tonight I still wanted to talk about this.  Stephen is worried about how brash I am sounding, and how combative.  But I have to get it out of my system. He worries that people with resources who are disgruntled have power and they could make our lives a misery.  I can be quite charming if I need to be, and I am not going to be mean to this person who is uncomfortable with his view of our woods.  But I can also be like Trump (this alarms Stephen) and I am happy to tell the homeowner that he should build a wall between our property and his, at his expense of course.  Stephen points out that we get away with a lot of non-Fairfax County-ish activities on this farm and we don't want to jeopardize our happy existence.  I am surprised at how skittish he is.

Stephen's friend Cory, who is the voice of reason in every possible way, does not see that this is such a big issue.  The shed needs to come down, it isn't doing anyone any good.  I agree with that, but I don't want to do it on someone else's schedule but on our dime.  I would be happy to accept someone else's schedule if he is offering to pay for the deconstruction -- and to have it done in such a way that we can salvage the materials that we want.

So we will wait to see if anyone gets in touch.  All of my worst tendencies are coming out -- the kids cringe when I get like this -- but we made it through the construction of Blueberry Hill and the subsequent construction of the mansions next door and everyone stayed on good terms even though I had to rant in private, often, before behaving appropriately in public.

There are several issues that are bothering me:
1. You don't own your view. You own your property.  If you want someone to make your view better, you have to ask, and you have to offer something in return.
2. The homeowner has not come forward on his own.  He has asked others to deliver his message.
3. That building has been there for 50 years and it was certainly there when the guy bought his house.  Did he assume it would go away?
4. What about the issue of trespassing?  There are prominent No Trespassing signs on that building, posted after a small gang of boys were prowling around our property on multiple occasions.
5. This is an issue that could potentially cause this farm to lose its viability in this location. If neighbors decide they don't like what they see, they can focus their energies on getting us to go.  And this will bring out the fight in me. Nothing good can come of that.