Vandalism for the public good

I said I'd write about the Foreign Service this week. But I lied. I'm writing more about me and what I've been doing. That shouldn't surprise most of you.

I love going on walks. White Rock is a great little town-- no traffic, no crime, and plenty of beautiful hikes all around it-- and with our two strollers, there is nothing stopping us from attacking most of those trails.

But then we have White Rock's sidewalks. Holy cow! So many people apparently use their cars so often that they forget what sidewalks are for. Are they for letting your weeds and trees grow over? No! Are they for planting large juniper hedges next to and forgetting to trim? Apparently!

So even though our town is graced with beautiful sidewalks, they are often overgrown to the point where you either can't walk through them or your child gets whapped in the face with prickly branches.

And this drives me crazy.

Very sneakily (and now very publicly, in case anyone in White Rock actually reads this), I have equipped Penny's strollers with a pair of garden clippers. If I come across an offending branch or bush waving its unfortunate self in front of my face or my baby's stroller, whack! It's gone!

Part of me wants to pile up the chopped branches on the person's doorstep to show them how much offending brush was covering their sidewalks. But the nicer (and lazier) part of me just piles them out of the way. I'm only doing it to make the neighborhood a nicer place to walk, and I have a feeling that angry homeowners isn't a good part of a friendly neighborhood.

Witness

Example A, before:

Example A, after:

Ahhhhhhhh.....