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drop-off, nothing that would be in my
line of sight. However, they also had
carved a short path up a small knoll—a
tiny knoll--on the way down the road.
And on top of this tiny knoll sat a new
wooden platform and some building
materials.
I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe
there was something in my view and I
couldn’t believe that I had never noticed
this knoll and that it clearly rose up
above the drop-off, creating a higher
part where something built upon it
would (and did) rise up into my view.
What? I rode home and looked out
again. Indeed, I could see this wooden
platform visible out my south windows,
22
Cenizo
where no structure had stood in my line
of sight the day before. How could this
be?
Tears and more tears. I was so utterly
confused. I had been so sure that my
view was protected to the south. I
owned all the land before the drop-off to
the south of me and out in the distance
was Big Bend National Park where
nobody lived.
What had happened? Well, the knoll
had happened, that’s what. Although the
road was definitely downhill all the way
to the bottom, and the land followed the
road, there was this one small knoll that
rose up, presenting the possibility—the
probability—now the certainty--of any
structure built on it being in my line of
sight. Though it had been there all
along, I just had not noticed nor
Fourth Quarter 2019
accounted for it.
Another episode of “Judy, you stupid
etc.”
Well, the neighbors from Mistake
Number One told me that they too
could see this structure going up and it
horrified them. We commiserated. In
the following days, I counseled myself
about the need to accept this, that it
wasn’t something awful like a health
issue, and so on. I worked at it.
And then a week or so later, the
Mistake Number One neighbors called
full of excitement to tell me that they
had spoken with the Mistake Number
Two neighbor and AMAZINGLY! he
said he hadn’t realized he was building in
our view. He said, “I can’t do that to you.
I wouldn’t want it done to me. I’ll build
down below instead, where I had the
land cleared on the edge of the hill. It’ll
be fine. I’ll just leave the platform for
stargazing or dancing or something.“
So this meant that the platform was
the only thing that would be in front of
us? Not worse? A gift given to us by a
young man we didn’t know, out of his
empathy and kindness? What?
Unheard of. And yet that is exactly
what has happened.
Mistake Number Two neighbor has
become our hero, a person of unfath-
omable kindness and consideration.
Our only gripe with him now is that his
primary home is far away and he is not
around enough for us to pour kindness-
es on.
And as for my Mistake Number One
neighbors... A page or two back, I wrote:
“And the next day, their enormous metal