Have you ever shared a backyard with multiple neighbors? I once lived in a house where there were three neighbors who all shared portions of our back fence. One neighbor added two-foot slats to the top of the fence to ensure that it was now 8 feet high with no possible way of ever seeing his yard. He also called when the kids were boisterous or the dog barked or the music was too loud
On another side the fence posts broke off at the base because of rot. The code of neighborhood living is that we work together to fix the fence. He wanted nothing to do with it, but called every time the dog would wiggle through the expanding opening.
A third neighbor had children the same age as ours in a dog that was friendly with hours. His proposal was that we remove the fence between our houses to let the children and the animals roam.
Three fences. Three different stories.
People install fences for all kinds of reasons. If you have a horse you want to fence off your property so the animal can properly feed itself and to prevent from wandering off. These kinds of fences are to keep property in and to define boundaries. The same kind of fence would not work for a dog. I had a dog who would routinely jump over the back fence circle around the neighborhood and then come back to the front porch and lie until we got home from work.
Some people install fences for the privacy they give. They just want to be left alone and if the fence is high enough in the slats are close enough together, it will completely block off any prying eyes or snooping neighbors.
Other fences are erected for security. These are met to keep people out and you know it because they’ll be signs posted and
perhaps a little bit of barbed wire at the top to dissuade people from climbing over.
Some erect fences just for the aesthetics of them. A simple white fence surrounding property is a nice little accent for certain homes.
What about the fences in your life? Why are they there, and what purpose do they serve? Do you have a high fence erected because you’ve been hurt before and you want a little security? Someone has stolen something from you and you’re not going to let that happen again. Or are you a person who defies fences, whistling “Don’t fence me in?”
Does your fence simply define your boundary, a sign of where your life begins and other’s ends?
Does your fence define your privacy and you simply don’t want anybody else to be part of it?
What does your fence say about you?
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