The last few days have been very challenging. The folks renting the house across from where we are building our house have developed such a hatred in their hearts towards us they are pulling out all the stops to try and get us shut down. She keeps coming down to the property screaming at the excavators and drillers telling them to shut off their equiptment. They both are endangering themselves and the workers by comming on the property while the equiptment is running. They are calling every possible state and local agency trying to get us shut down and the power company is getting really angry about the constant calls they are receiving from her. Now we found out that they are taking photos of the site when we are not here and sending them to the state and to the woman that owns the land.
Well it came to a head today when they sent photos of our land after it was blasted to the woman that owns the land and told her that we planned to do the same thing to her land when we dig the ditch to the power pole 20 feet onto a GMP rightaway on her land. The photos they sent her were of entire house foundation blasted and heaped up. The power trench was to be a narrow 3 foot trench for a power cable only, no comparison at all to a blasted full foundation. So the land owner put the breaks on and we lost our window of opportunity with the blaster who is packing up and heading for Maine on Monday afternoon. The rep from GMP emailed us and they are getting really angry about the phone calls from this woman. So our options were to go ahead and blast anyway since we have the original letter of permission from the owner and the Dig Safe permit in place, or to not dig and pay approx $1,000.00 more to put a temp service overhead to GMP specs and then pay GMP to set a pole right in out front yard. Legally we probably are in our full right to do the first scenario, but we had to ask ourselves what is morally right.
To top it all off right before this started I entered into one of the worst pain flare ups I have had in couple of years. Intense pain, fevers, rashes, the whole lovely Chronic Lyme gamut. I was having difficulty walking even with a cane and excruciating spasms. The Dr thinks it was a very bad Herxheimer reaction and I think it was made worse by the stress.
So after much reflection we called it all off and told the power co we will pay the extra costs and reluctantly have the pole put in our yard. We are bruised and battered from the stones they are casting at us, all their screaming, spying, photo taking, reporting us to state and local agencies. We opt for
peace. So if that means they win so be it. I sincerely pray that if they ever buy land and build their
dream home that they will encounter more welcoming and loving neighbors than than have been able to be to us. But deep in my heart I know that there are no "winners" in this situation because their unhappiness surely stems from something much deeper than having a 20 foot ditch dug in a GMP
right away on land they do not own.
The lesson for me will continue to be one of compassion not anger or regret. Every time I look out my window and see that huge power pole in my yard I absolutly must train my heart towards compassion for them and not be drawn into the anger and resentment that caused that pole to be placed there. Perhaps I will plant some stunning climbing roses at the base of the pole as a reminder that beauty and love can be born out of any adversity and every time I smell the lovely scent of roses I will be reminded to pray for God to heal those that cast stones produced from a lonley wounded heart. My heart knows that loving them is the only solution, my ego is struggling, but I am confident that with God's grace my heart will prevail.
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