You're kidding me!

The HOA. Everyone loves their HOA.

The tree in front of my house died. The HOA wrote me a couple of letters and told me to remove and replace it. So I did, eventually, after they threatened to fine me. I'm a rebel that way!

Honestly, I didn't really want to replace the tree, because it was about 1 foot from the wall of my house and another foot from the sidewalk. It just didn't seem like a really good place to plant a tree. I wanted to replace it with a bush or something, but the letter said to remove and replace. So, I did. I even bought a chainsaw to cut it up to make it easier for the garbage men to haul away.

I went to the nurserey and bought a new tree

Yesterday I got my monthly statement from the HOA. They also included a little newsletter.

The newsletter had little hints like don't park your boat in front of your house, where to get a pool pass, and an invitation to meet our city councilman at the next HOA meeting. And on the back of the newsletter was a little article - What to do About That Overgrown Tree?

The article, written by a member of the HOA board, talks about the African Sumac tree planted in front of his house. He talks about how it was "planted in a 5 ft x 5 ft patch of dirt surrounded by driveway, sidewalk and my house." He goes on to write that the tree would eventually grow to 15 feet across at maturity, yet it was planted 2 feet away from his house. He finally dug up the tree, and recommends that "other homeowners in similar situations to consider removing and replacing these trees with something more suited to the space available. For myself, I replaced the tree with a flowering Hawthorn shrub that will remain comfortably confined to that small space."

My tree was an African Sumac just like his. I thought it was pretty stupid to plant it that close to the house, but I replaced it with another tree at the demands of the HOA. All I can say is "Are You Freakin' Kidding Me!"