Oh, Tragedy!

Somewhere on this blog I've called my house "the ugliest on the block." But oh, woe, my next door neighbors are competing for the (dis)honor!

They've got a nice wood-sided foursquare. They had it painted a couple years ago, and I respected them so much for doing so. The painters who came didn't take the tongue-and-groove siding down to bare wood, so true, the texture is a little rough. And I've noticed the color has faded a bit-- obviously they didn't use the best paint in the world.

But it's not peeling or flaking that I can see.

Yesterday, however, my neighbor was out till dusk ceiling the underside of his open back porch with cheap-looking aluminum strips. Well, maybe he wants to keep the birds from getting in.

Late this afternoon, though, I came outside and saw that he and a friend were replacing the side door. I asked, "What's up?"

He said, "Oh, we're getting ready to put siding on the house."

"Oh," I looked blank. "You have siding now."

"I mean, aluminum siding. We only painted the house two years ago, and . . . "

. . . And instead of letting it gently fade or getting a crew out to paint it properly this time, they're going to shroud their dwelling in cheap tin. It's bad enough having the dirty wide asbestos siding on the house on my other side. Now I get aluminum on this. Damn.

Officially, it's none of my business. It's their property, to do with as they will. But visually and emotionally, it is my business.

I have to look at it!!