Nasty Notes

I wrote a nasty note to my doctor:

I'm a little nervous that you withhold my thyroid lab tests from me for two weeks. If it's serious, I should be in tomorrow. If it isn't, I should not be stressed out for two weeks. I know it is time for my yearly exam. I don't need to be threatened with an "abnormal" lab result. I had planned to make an appointment. I need to know what the problem is now, not in two weeks. That's just me. Thanks, Jeanette

Suddenly instead of my appointment being on August 9, at 3 PM, they could see me that morning at 10:30.

Then when we pick the prescription up, it is for only 30 days so I write another nasty note:

Smiths sold me 30 pills. You said to have my thyroid checked in six weeks. How does that work? In less than 30 days, I will need to try to get a hold of you to order more pills. It's both a waste of time and money - we waited at Smiths for over 1/2 hour. Jeanette

That worked out so well, I decided to write a nasty note to my neighbor:

When you get a minute, come to our back yard and see how much your tree is over the property line - don't forget to check the top. You talked about trimming it so it doesn't infringe on our garden, lawn, deck, and peach tree - not to mention it falling on me when I'm sunbathing on my deck (I know, I'm old and funny). Appreciate the consideration. Jeanette

Last December, I wrote an email to our neighbors telling them how their tree blocked out a whole mountain range for us; and how we are too old to rake the leaves and pick up the million prickly balls that fall onto our yard each fall.

Dave: 

I recently read a book about a woman – a wife, a doctor actually – who was sitting out on her deck when a tree fell on her and killed her. It didn’t kill her immediately; she suffered for three or four days before she died.  The wind wasn’t even blowing; the air was calm; there was no storm.

It put the fear in my heart. I can’t sleep at nights, many nights, worrying the giant tree you planted so close to our property will fall on our house and crush it. Especially when the East Winds blow. Or when it storms. Or even when it’s calm.

It blocks out an entire mountain range from our deck. We used to plant a garden in the back yard, even had grow-boxes; now everything is so shaded nothing will grow (except weeds).  Plus, this time of year, a good share of the leaves fall in our yard – and those hard seed balls all over the yard. Ugh. Now we are in our 80’s we cannot rake or pick up (or do much, truth be told – you’ll see when you get old).

A little consideration so we can sleep at night? I think it’s a danger. It grew so fast, it couldn’t have much of a root system.

Even before reading the book, I worried about it; the book just prompted me to let you know we feel threatened and are not happy about how it dominates our back yard.

Nevertheless, you are very GOOD NEIGHBORS. Jeanette

Subject: Re: City of Good Neighbors

Hi Jeanette,

Thank you for your letter.  While we love the shade our Sycamore tree provides and it has given us many family memories (one example: Lauren's wedding reception occurred under it's boughs), it has grown larger than I'd like.  Therefore I understand your concern.  I spent $400 and had a crew thin out quite a few branches in August in an effort to lessen the tree mass being pushed during a wind storm.  We'd like to address your tree falling concern.  I'm not sure how we will do that at the moment.  Give us some time to consult with tree experts and consider various options.  We'll get back to you with what we'd like to do.

Thanks for being very good neighbors as well!  David & Jane

On 12/26/2016 2:43 PM, drffp@aol.com wrote:

Hi Jeanette,

As I mentioned yesterday--you did a great narration job on the Christmas program!  A few days ago I received the risk analysis from Arborcare/Arborscape, Inc., who sent Chris Kolb their ISA Certified Arborist out to analyze our Sycamore tree.  I was relieved to find the tree in excellent health.  I have attached their letter and hope their analysis will bring some piece of mind regarding the issue you raised.  I also spoke to two landscape architects that are familiar with the Sycamore tree and they gave the same opinion as the Arborcare expert.  We plan to have some additional pruning done in February or March and I'll have the Murdock boys pick up leaves in the fall as we did in November.

Again--I hope this report brings some peace of mind.

Best wishes always!  David & Jane

Dear David,

So I'm not going to be crushed while reading my book on the deck?

Did you bribe Arborcare?

Just kidding.

You are a very kind and concerned neighbor to go to these lengths in consideration of our concerns.

You love the tree - it has good memories for you.

We hate the tree - it blocks a whole mountain range for us and shades our yard and drops big leaves and prickly seeds.

That's life.

We don't always get what we want. And that's OK. That's community. Give and take.

And you've gone the extra mile. We appreciate the pruning so it doesn't invade our space. Jeanette

Almost August and no pruning. (In the meantime, he's built a fancy cabin in the mountains.) The tree has grows bigger and bigger and comes over the fence line a good 30 feet or more and that’s why I wrote another Nasty Note.

 Poor little peach tree. 

  

 While I was out taking pictures, Ed passed by on his trike ride.
Actually, my trike. His trike has been in the shop since July 10.

Who’s next? It may be YOU.