Fenced in

You might remember from earlier photographs of our rental house there was a fence around the yard made of bamboo.

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A bamboo fence, being extremely economical, is quite common here.  The fence was in decent shape.  There were a few spots in need of repair, but nothing drastic.  The gate, or at least the large space underneath the gate, was a problem.  Large and small dogs would scoot under the gate to steal Darcy (our puppy’s) dinner.  One dog, particular, was rather scary.  He was not afraid of any of us and actually tried to bite Colby once.  It was long before Colby discovered he, too, could escape under the gate and run wild in the field across the street.   We expressed our concern about the gate to our landlord Pak Cos, and then made sure to block the open with scrap lumber.  Pak Cos told us he would look into a new gate that would better protect Colby.  Soon after this initial conversation, he began installing a much larger metal gate.   The new gate is made of metal bars and is about 6 feet tall.

 

Then, a truck showed up and unloaded a pile of hand cut stones in front of the house.  Later that day, Pak Cos and his nephews tore down the bamboo fence and proceeded to construct a stone-wall with sharp metal poles and shards of glass on top.  

While we are grateful for better security, initially the new fence made us feel a little....umm.... trapped.  As soon as we started to get use to the transition from seeing natural materials out our front door that melted gently into the scenery to seeing a more modern stone and metal structure, Pak Cos altered the view.  He painted the metal parts a bright red.

Red paint is a considerably bold color for Sumba.  Everything here is done out of necessity.  It is rare to see anything that exists for purely aesthetic reasons.  We assumed red was the only color available right now.  The red paint was nice, though.  It helped the gray barrier fuse better with the landscape.  It blended with the red hues on the trees and shrubs in the field across the street.  I liked the red paint.  I was used to the red paint.  Pak Cos apparently did not.

I don’t even think the second coat of red paint had completely dried when Pak Cos began painting the fence pink.  It reminds me of flamingoes.  He thinks the pink is better.  Not as bold.  More subtle.  Maybe.... but he hasn’t finished painting the fence. 

The fence remained this mix of pink and red for several days when Pak Cos finally returned to paint some more.  I thought he had come to finish painting the red parts pink, but a single color apparently is not the plan.  This time he brought another can of red paint.  He is now painting the concrete poles at the end of the fence red.....WHAT!!!

I think we will throw a Valentine’s Day party.  In October.