The Fence

The cutting of the bamboo has turned into a major production, involving much more than just the eradication of the fleas. Once the bamboo was cut and burned to deal with the problem of the fleas, other problems arose, like privacy and protection. With the bamboo gone, about 20 feet of my yard was open to the road outside. The bamboo had provided a physical and a visual barrier that gave me privacy and security. No one could get in or even see in the yard. Not so once the grove was cut down. I was exposed to everyone walking past the house. From the road my bedroom and study windows were open for view. The situation was laughable. I had a locked metal gate, then a hedge fence and then a wide open space. We went in and out of the gate, carefully unlocking and locking it, when we could have just walked 30 feet from the gate and gone out the opening where the bamboo had been. I needed a fence.

Cutting the bamboo

My watchman made the case to the administration and the workers returned to build a fence. They began by chopping down the rest of the bamboo stumps to use them for the fence. They were left in the yard just as they were felled for several days while the workers got the rest of the supplies for the fence – the wire to hold it together. When they returned, they resumed their cutting by chopping away the hedge that had served as a fence. What little green that had not been burned was removed. All the green that had surrounded the house was gone. They then cut the bamboo logs to the appropriate size. They cut one to the desired length and  placed two small pieces of bamboo the correct distance from one another and those became the measuring tape for the cutting. They placed a long bamboo rod on the two small pieces, marked the length, and then cut the bamboo shoot to the right size. Placing the cut long in a pile, they began the process again until they had enough logs for the fence. All of this was done with machetes. Passersby came to the edge of the property and looked in at the fence construction. My yard was a center of entertainment once again.

After two days of cutting, there were enough logs to construct the fence. The workers then stood the longs upright and fitted them one next to the other, pushing them into the ground and then stringing the wire to hold them in place. On Friday, two weeks after the project of cutting down the bamboo had begun, the fence was completed. When the Human Resource Director heard that I was having an international guest for the weekend, he came immediately to instruct the workers to clean up the yard so it was presentable for guests. This began a frantic effort to toss the longer pieces into my neighbors year for use on her fence and to toss the smaller pieces over the newly constructed fence, to the outside for the workers to gather up later. When my guest arrives, they were busily sweeping the up the wood chips and perfecting the cleanup. All was ready for company in time. We had privacy and protection with the completion of the fence.

The Fence

The fleas are gone, but so is the green oasis of my yard. In its place stands a stark 6 foot high bamboo fence that extended from my gate thought my neighbors yard to her gate, about 50 yards long. When I looked at the new fence, I am amazed at all the time, money, energy and redesign that was expended on eliminating a few fleas. My consolation is that the resilient bamboo will grow back in time, as will the grass in my yard. Green will return, in time.