There is this two story house behind our house that overlooks our yard. This old creepy man lives there and used to sit there staring out the window. He gave me the creeps because he was always staring and a few times he got out binoculars to look. So we bought a big tree and a year later frost killed it.

We then noticed something growing up by the fence and low and behold we had a baby tree! So our baby sumac was our blessing and we grew to love it as it hid the house at least halfway from our yard. Our girls discovered that the tree had developed a strong truck that branched in two directions and made great climbing. It also developed a nice canopy of leaves to sit under its shade and read. It also became a playhouse for the girls to play under. It served as the 2nd house(the orange tree was the 1st one) A few months ago our sumac grew out so well that it finally covered the view of the house completely! Our yard finally was ours!

So today we were outside playing when we heard a gruff"Hey" and I saw an old wizened face over the fence looking over at us. I gasped in startled surprise(words fail me to describe what the just the face over the fence looked like that brief instant.)

"What are you going to do about that tree?" he croaked out in a raspy voice. My husband replied back and I stared in amazement at the mass of lines zig zagging in an odd assortment of patterns over grayish pale skin. Sharp features accented by thick wild eyebrows and short stumps of wispy, white hair flew out from his head in various directions. I was pondering the oddity of just his face over the fence and nothing else. I felt annoyance at the fact that he would have the gall to be looking over the fence disturbing us. I was brought out of my musing about his ugliness by his voice saying we needed to cut down our 2 trees. my husband asked him why and he went on to explain for 3 years he had been tolerating that tree but it had been growing over into his yard. My husband offered to come over and trim it for him. Then he went on to complain that the tree was blocking his sun and got leaves in his yard and we needed to cut it down.(its BS about the sun as the tree could not be big enough for that as we get plently on our side with the tree plus its only 1 tree as the orange tree is farther down) My husband apologized again and told him he would not cut down the tree but we would trim it regularly over his side of the fence(the old mans). The old man then went on to complain also that our orange tree was growing over into his yard as well and that needed to go. Stephen told him that tree had been there for over 15 years and we were not going to remove it but he would be glad to trim it out of his yard as well. So then he switched back to our sumac telling us that the tree was blocking his window and he wanted it gone. Stephen explained to him that we needed the tree for shade and privacy and our girls played in it. He kept on insisting that the tree was in his way and blocking his sun and the view. (Well his only view was our yard!!)Plus the tree is in our yard behind our fence and his house is far away from it!

The old man kept on insisting that the tree got leaves in his yard and blocked the sun.(which there was no possible way it could.) He then said our tree's were against city code and needed to go and he was going to do something about it was going to contact the city because it was blocking his sun and against city code. What more could we say?

After that we went inside with dejected hearts the mood for play driven away. We were surprised how depressed it made us feel. That tree is not big enough to block all of the sun. Just when the tree completely covers his house he goes on a rampage against it. The fact that he is going to go to the city to make us cut it down scares me. The city is anal enough to be on his side. I love those tree's. Our girls overheard the conversation and were crying about their tree, their playhouse. Why are some people such pricks?! Well thanks for listening to my tale of woe. Hopefully our tree's will get to live on but knowing the way the city is that probley won't happen. Our poor, poor trees.

I hope we can get hat job transfer soon and move out to the country!!!!