The first time she approached me, I was trimming weeds beside the orchard. She drove through my open driveway in a white SUV.
"Daniel?"
"That's me."
"I'm Linda Parker."
"I know."
She pointed at my grass. "It's getting long."
I looked down. "About four inches."
"Brookstone guidelines require three on Brookstone property. This area affects the neighborhood entrance."
"It's my yard."
"We maintain part of it along the fence." She smiled. "Exactly."
I did not like that "exactly."
She continued, "We are updating community landscaping standards."
"Good for you."
"You need to follow them along the eastern ranch frontage."
"No."
She looked surprised. "No?"
"No, Linda. We all benefit from maintaining property values."
"I have cattle. That doesn't mean appearance doesn't matter."
"It matters to me. I like it."
She did not.
A week later, I received an HOA violation letter: *Grass height exceeded community standard. Fine: $250.*
I laughed, then called Rachel. She laughed, too. "Do not pay it."
"Wasn't planning to."
She sent Brookstone a letter: Brooks Ranch was not part of the HOA. No fines, no enforcement, no landscaping authority. Simple.
Then Linda started sending more notices: tree pruning, fence color, equipment storage, hay bales visible from the neighborhood. One notice complained that my tractor was "commercial machinery visible from residential property." It was a ranch; of course there was a tractor.
Sam loved those letters. He kept them on the breakroom wall. Every morning, he would read one aloud like a weather report: "Today's emergency: red tractor still exists." He thought he was hilarious. Honestly, he was.
Then Brookstone's landscapers started mowing farther into my yard. At first maybe two feet, then five, then ten. One afternoon, I found them nearly thirty feet inside my property.
I stopped the mower operator. "Where are you going?"
He turned off the machine. "Work order says common greenbelt."
"There is no common greenbelt here."
He showed me his map. Sure enough, a shaded area crossed into my yard.
I called Linda. "Your landscapers are on my property."
"They're maintaining the greenbelt."
"There is no greenbelt."
"That is disputed."
"No, it isn't."
"It has been maintained by Brookstone for years."