The Jungle House

Ok, I couldn't resist any longer. I had to share with you the jungle that Non English Speaking Neighbor's house has become. Yes, the city came to mow a few weeks ago, but they didn't edge. So the grass around the trees, fence, and house is getting ever taller. The trees are starting to literally come through our fence because they have branches basically from the ground up - they were never trimmed or maintained. Surprise, surprise.

The illustrious real estate agent who has the house listed obviously doesn't care much about the condition of the house either. You'd think they would want their commissions, and would want to sell it. Who knows what it looks like on the inside. I'm afraid to find out.

Realizing that all of this seems a bit surreal for an otherwise quiet neighborhood, I decided to post a few pictures that I took last night. Here it is in all its glory, folks. I give you...The Jungle House.

Exhibit A: The Overview

This vantage point is basically peeking over the fence straight behind our back door. You can clearly see that the grass has gone crazy again, and the part that wasn't edged close to the house has continued to grow monstrously tall. Please take note of the screen that is falling off the window on the right, the barely visible path that was once made out of gray rocks (that are now scattered along the back fence and my back yard), and the high quality deck furniture that was left behind. I'm surprised the satellite dish is still there - you'd think they would have wanted to take that with them.

Exhibit B: The Dog's Eye View

This is what my dogs see when they peek through the fence. Grass that is taller than they are. And who knows what may be crawling around in that grass. It's a mystery they would love to explore. I'm happy for it to remain unknown.



Exhibit C: The Trees

Ah, the trees. The trees that having been left unkempt, are sticking their tentacled branches through the slats in our fence in an effort to escape their jungle. The trees that are now tall enough to actually block some of the view from our back door to NESN's back door. The trees that actually provide a nice patch of shade in our yard late in the afternoon. Also notice the square patio-like area on the left made out of leftover brick and quickrete. While this totally looks like something NESN might have fashioned, it would require way too much work for him to have actually done it. No, this fine handiwork was done by the people who owned the house before - the neighbors we totally took for granted since they lived like civilized beings and minded their own business. Also note the infant exersaucer-type contraption on the aforementioned patio. Yeah, this definitely belongs to NESN and has actually been in just about the same spot for nearly a year.

Exhibit D: The Contraption

First of all, yes, that is grass that is taller than our privacy fence. Secondly, please note the clothesline-like contraption. Now, those posts were already in the yard when NESN moved in - the regular people had a really nice hammock they'd installed on the posts. NESN decided to use said posts for a clothesline. He also tied a clothesline to two of the fenceposts down the side of the fence - I guess the original wasn't enough space for him. But he didn't bother to hang either line high enough to keep the clothes off the ground. Not only does the line already dip pretty low, it dips even lower when it's loaded with clothes. So the clean clothes were constantly meeting with the grass (that, let's face it, has always been tall), thus making them dirty clothes before they were even worn.

If you look closely, you can see what was once a raised garden of sorts, again, left behind by the normal neighbors. Obviously, maintaining it was nowhere on NESN's list of priorities, and neither was dismantling it. So it has grown wild for the past two years or so, and the plants and herbs that were once lovingly cared for have either died or gone wild.

So there it is. I didn't even venture around to the front yard during my photo shoot last night. The normal folks left some pretty nice flower beds that are now totally overgrown and pretty scary looking. What was once a nicely landscaped yard (well, save the bizarre brick and quickrete patio) has been allowed to morph into a wild habitat. With a bit of sweat equity, it could be nice again. It has "good bones," as they say. Right now it just looks more like it belongs in a third world country instead of a suburban neighborhood. And it just happens to be right behind my house.

Please, somebody normal buy this place!