I managed to have an adventure in my back garden, this weekend. The ground floor flat next door has been vacant since we moved in early January 2005. The lace curtains have always suggested that an older person lived there prior to its vacancy. (This has lead to many theories as to why it has been vacant for so long).
Some bushes that had grown over and through our fencing and I decided the best way to tackle it was to actually climb over the fence, via a massive lilac bush, into the neighboring yard and tackle the problem there. So, off I go on my little adventure. I threw over the fence a wood saw, a hack saw and a pair of clippers. I then crawled over. Too late I discovered some of the wood was rotted and I stumbled onto the other side rather than land.
The yard had been neglected over the past year or more and as a result, everything had grown out of control. The yard, which had at one time a concrete patio and a space for grass, now blended together to form a mishmash of grey and green. There was litter all over the yard as well. There were cans of Fosters and empty coca-cola bottles and even a poppadum nesting in a shrub. All of it appeared to have fallen from the patio of the upstairs neighbor.
I turned towards the house where I needed to make my way to the bushes that grew into my yard. I realize from my description that it sounds like the yard was massive. It isn’t, but there was so much overgrowth that spatially it felt distorted.
There was no clearing to get to the bushes. I needed to cut myself a path. I cut for almost ten minutes just to create a little mouse hole to crawl through to. Once on the other side, I began hacking away at the bushes, sawing through the thicker branches and clipping some of the thinner ones.
I don’t know how long I was over on that side of the fence, but I noticed that the light had changed color and that it must be heading towards twilight. As I headed for the tree to climb back over I glanced up at an early emerging moon. Suddenly I became really spooked. There is nothing more unsettling than suddenly releasing you have trespassed and it has started to get dark in a Miss Haversham style garden.
I made my way quickly to the tree, threw the tools over and as hurriedly and calmly as possible made my way over the tree. There is that moment of fear, no matter how old or as rational as you are, that there is going to be a hand that grabs you just as you go over the fence.
Some bushes that had grown over and through our fencing and I decided the best way to tackle it was to actually climb over the fence, via a massive lilac bush, into the neighboring yard and tackle the problem there. So, off I go on my little adventure. I threw over the fence a wood saw, a hack saw and a pair of clippers. I then crawled over. Too late I discovered some of the wood was rotted and I stumbled onto the other side rather than land.
The yard had been neglected over the past year or more and as a result, everything had grown out of control. The yard, which had at one time a concrete patio and a space for grass, now blended together to form a mishmash of grey and green. There was litter all over the yard as well. There were cans of Fosters and empty coca-cola bottles and even a poppadum nesting in a shrub. All of it appeared to have fallen from the patio of the upstairs neighbor.
I turned towards the house where I needed to make my way to the bushes that grew into my yard. I realize from my description that it sounds like the yard was massive. It isn’t, but there was so much overgrowth that spatially it felt distorted.
There was no clearing to get to the bushes. I needed to cut myself a path. I cut for almost ten minutes just to create a little mouse hole to crawl through to. Once on the other side, I began hacking away at the bushes, sawing through the thicker branches and clipping some of the thinner ones.
I don’t know how long I was over on that side of the fence, but I noticed that the light had changed color and that it must be heading towards twilight. As I headed for the tree to climb back over I glanced up at an early emerging moon. Suddenly I became really spooked. There is nothing more unsettling than suddenly releasing you have trespassed and it has started to get dark in a Miss Haversham style garden.
I made my way quickly to the tree, threw the tools over and as hurriedly and calmly as possible made my way over the tree. There is that moment of fear, no matter how old or as rational as you are, that there is going to be a hand that grabs you just as you go over the fence.
posted by Heidi at 12:00 PM
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