The Beauty of Chainlink

Growing up we had a chainlink fence around our backyard. You didn't notice it much though because our house was built 50 years or so before we lived there. Thus, trees, shrubs, etc., had grown around the perimeter of the yard. When you looked out back, all you saw were trees and bushes. It worked, because the neighbors also had chainlink fences. And this was before they appeared to come in "normal" households colors (like green and black). 

Today, while I was walking around Prairie Fields I noticed that everyone had a different kind of fence. Some were chainlink. When we moved there, we had a treated wood fence. Four years later Roger Rogers and her family decided to put a cedar one up, which began one of the largest suburban discussions -- do you build on all 4 sides of the yard? Or do you just build on the 3 sides that are completely unfenced and not build on your neighbor's side -- because there's already a fence side there?

If you do that, then you're looking at inconsistencies in the backyard, because, undoubtably, you won't be picking the same style or color fence. OCD folks are cringing at the thought.

But if you build a 4th wall smack up against the neighbors' neither of you can care for your fence or restain it without meddling with the other's fence.

Roger Rogers ultimately decided to build the side about 2.5 feet away from our fence, to allow care for both fences and to the excitement of neighborhood kids everywhere, the ability for them to run between yards to get to the playground faster. The space is also the exact width of her lawn mower. :-) But not everyone makes these choices for whatever reason.

To some people a fence is a fence is a fence. To others, it's extra cash... but to me all the fence observations reminded me of long ago summer times when I could scale the 5' tall, chainlink fence that divided my house from Daniel Koenings' on my way to a playdate. We'd play G.I. Joe in the backyard, hit baseballs, watch movies we probably shouldn't have been watching (like Halloween) and ate food I never should have been eating (my mom didn't buy sugared cereal). Those fences were everywhere and served much more of a function (to keep little tiny kids and pets in) than as decoration. It was a time before bad fence versus good fence, ugly fence versus pretty fence...