Like a Good Neighbor?
One of my very favorite things about my house is this awesome fire pit. It's made out of huge boulders, it's right up against a stone courtyard and a stone bench, it's great fun. In the 6 months since we've moved her, we've probably had. . . no lie, 30 campfires out there.
So the other day, the wind blows this 30 foot pine tree over in my backyard. (ugh!)
I've decided to be an old fashioned man of the land and I'm working on taking the tree apart using just an ax. No chainsaws for me, it's almost a religious belief. I like having all my fingers, so I don't really want to use power tools. Anyway, that is a tangent. This post isn't about that.
It's about this: The other day I'm using the fire pit to burn a lot of the branches. And my neighbor calls me over to the fence so he can tell me something.
Him: "Um, I didn't tell you this over the summer. .. but when you burn a fire there the smoke gets up into my attic and comes down into my bedroom. And it stinks."
Me: "Oh really."
Him: "So if you could just burn it back that (gestures to the rear of my yard), that would be much better."
(I don't remember what I said here.)
But now I'm grumpy about it. This has been an active fire pit for 16 years! The last two owners have used it. Much of the backyard is actually landscaped around it. I don't see how he can think it's a reasonable request. Honestly, his dog BARKS AND BARKS all day long and I've never once complained.
When I was burning the branched, the smoke was thick because of the pine needles. So now I think I'm going to handle it like this. For "burning" - branches, leaves, cardboard boxes - I will comply and burn towards the back of my property (Which incidentily, when I burn back there thick smoke literally envelopes his house. . . when I burn in the pit, the wind takes it towards my front yard and across the road, away from his house, go figure.)
But for legitimate CAMPFIRES I shall be using my CAMPFIRE PIT!
And make him complain again. At that point. . . I will buy him an attic fan or something.
11 Comments:
aw... I'm sorry you're having neighbor troubles... is it possible that you burned something back there and soon thereafter burned something else in your firepit causing your neighbor to mistakenly believe that the firepit was the problem? or could it be that he just thinks that's where you burn everything? Idk, just thinkin'... I pray it works out ok!
This post has been removed by the author.
This post has been removed by the author.
I say burn his house down. Then we'll see how much smoke gets in his attic - HAHAHAHAHA!
Yeah, long day for the Snake Man.
Thats pretty annoying.. He should just get a fan for his attic..
at least he didnt seem too rude about ti..
Um, whatever, who doesn't like the smell of fire burning? Anyway, when you are having the campfires it might even be against the law to not have them in the pit. I think it is...You should just say it is against the law and that when you guys were looking at the house, the fire pit was a huge selling point. You can just say, "My father in law is a firefighter...and it is a HUGE fire hazard to burn anything outside of a stone or metal pit". Then my dad could get his fire buddies to knock on his door in their turnout gear and put the fear of God in him.
interesting. sucks for you!
in your neighbor's defense, he seems to be civil about it. n'cest-pas?
seems to me that you have an awesome opportunity here to honor/bless someone... or at least work through something and cultivate friendship.
or maybe i'm just blowing smoke.
He wasn't nice about it actually. Very short in his manner of speaking and annoyed sounding.
In that case.. i say smoke him out good
:-P
A guy travelling through the prairies of the US stopped at a small town and went to a bar.
He stood at the end of the bar, ordered a drink, and lit up a cigar. As he sipped his drink, he stood there quietly blowing smoke rings.
After he blew nine or ten smoke rings into the air, an angry Indian brave stomped up to him and said, "One more remark like that, and I'll smash your face in!"
cheers
Jeremiah Johnson
Lol... very nice JJ :-D
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