It was late afternoon one day when I looked out where the sun was shining on an ugly green fence that surrounded my flower garden. The fence was a few years old and now shone fluorescent in the sun, as it had faded from the dark green it once was.

Fences have long been a bone of contention between my husband and me. For years we had been able to grow vegetables and flowers with nary a thought of animal invasion, so we had no fences.