Fenced In
When I lived in LA I was used to strange things lurking outside my window at night. One weekend several years ago I decided to buy a new toilet, so removed the old one and placed it in the courtyard until I could haul it off to the dump. A few hours later I returned home from the hardware store to find a dwelling-challenged individual sitting on it, assuming it was a public restroom strategically placed outdoors for HIM. Another occasion, after moving into my first apartment in West Hollywood, I woke up in the middle of the night to a woman standing below my bedroom window placing a food order. She was not talking on a cellphone, rather staring right at me as though she were in line at Dairy Queen. After moving to the east coast three years ago we have late night visitors of a different kind. A few nights ago I thought I heard someone in the bushes outside our front door, so I turned on the porch light to reveal a buck and his little fawn munching on a bush a few feet from our door. It's one thing to look out your window and see a strange, drunk woman ordering french fries at 3 AM and another to catch a giant deer with antlers looking you in the eye. We planned on placing deer fencing around the perimeter of our property and, well, we just haven't gotten around to it yet. A recent jog down the aisles of the Home Depot found me in the deer fencing aisle where I happened upon unique fencing solutions. One in particular is sold in 4'x6' pieces, constructed of sturdy pine, framed on the outside with a woven pattern on the inside. Immediately the deer slipped my mind as I thought of a dear client in need of a good nights sleep in her new master bedroom. To create an inviting headboard, I purchased this cool piece of wooden fence for $54, placed two coats of a maple stain in it and hung it above her bed. While this fence won't keep the deer away, it gave this client a cool place to retreat to at the end of the day.
TIME TO COMPLETE TASK: Two hours
COST: $54 for fence section at Home Depot and $3.99 for maple stain
STRESS LEVEL: Figuring out how to give someone a good nights sleep: LOW
