Day 250

While we continue to work on our own property, the rest of the neighborhood is coming together as well. Currently, there is one house on the four previously farmed lots directly to our west. It is the furthest west lot. The lot directly next to us seemed like it was preparing for a quick construction but things have stalled now that the land was scraped and a ton of fill was added. Two doors down, nothing of consequence has happened to this point. Over the past few months, things started happening three doors down. First, a few trees were planted. Then, a small shed was put up. Soon after that, the reason for the shed became clear. It looks like this is a home for birds as we see ducks and hear at least one rooster every day. More recently, the land was mowed down and now the process of building a house has begun. To the enjoyment of my son, heavy machinery has been making multiple stops every day. At this rate, it looks like a second house will be up before the snowflakes fly.

Since we own the land behind all these houses and our trail meanders all the way through and behind all of these lots, we  have seen these changes form a unique perspective. Having these houses does impact our land in many ways. Obviously the view changes when houses dominate the landscape previously open for wildlife and farm fields. Adding tons and tons of fill to build houses higher than the low lying wetland that are being built on may impact water flow, so that will be interesting to keep our eyes on.

One advantage has the potential to have significant advantages to our restoration. With this land being essentially abandoned from farming practices for the better part of a decade, much of it was overgrown with weeds and unwanted plants that spread their seeds through water and wind flow right into the land we are restoring. Now that that land has been mowed down and even built on, less of those unwanted seeds should make it to our property.

When life gives you lemons, you can always make lemonade.