I said, "Karen had two written requests and an HOA board finding before the deterrent was applied." He said, "She told me it was a neighborhood dispute about property lines." I said, "There were no disputed property lines." He said, "I know that now." He looked at the wood pile which was fully visible from my front porch.
The treated pieces were still in the stack. They would season naturally and the compound would dissipate over time in the outdoor environment. I owe you an apology on her behalf and on my own for not understanding what was happening sooner." I said, "The restitution was paid. The acknowledgement was signed.
The documentation is complete." He said, "Is that enough?" I thought about the 11 months, the 468 photographs, the $1,236 of wood, the two written requests, the certified letter, the HOA board finding, the deterrent compound application, and the 2:41 moment when Karen stood at my fence with treated oak in both hands and finally received the direct and unambiguous communication that 11 months of documentation had been building toward. I said, "It's the correct resolution arrived at through the correct process. That's enough."
He shook my hand and left. Garrett came in from the workshop at 5:00. He had been calibrating a field monitoring unit. He said, "Richard came." I said, "Yes."
He said, "How was it?" I said, "He apologized, said he didn't know it had gotten to this point." Garrett looked at the wood pile, the treated pieces. I said, "Still in the stack." He said, "The compound will dissipate over the winter.
By spring, you won't be able to tell them from the untreated pieces." I said, "I know." He said, "Are you satisfied?" I thought about satisfaction, about what it meant to spend 11 months documenting a recurring problem with the patience of a person who manages a working ranch and understands that some problems cannot be solved quickly and must instead be solved correctly. About the specific and professional pleasure of having designed a deterrent system that communicated directly and unambiguously in a way that 11 months of written requests and camera footage and board findings had not.
About the restitution and the acknowledgement and the signed document that would live in Leonard's files and my documentation folder for as long as I chose to keep records. I said, "The problem is solved correctly. Yes, I'm satisfied." Garrett went to bring in the evening wood from the untreated rows. He chose pieces with the automatic competence of someone who has been splitting and carrying firewood his whole life.
I went inside and opened the documentation log. Below entry 468, the Tuesday camera image of Karen with treated oak, I wrote the final entry. Resolution date, full restitution paid, $1,236, written acknowledgement signed and received, HOA board notified, documentation closed. I closed the log. 11 months of documentation, 468 photographs, $1,236, one deterrent compound application.
One resolution. Complete. Correct. Done.