I have moved one stone, and will move the other tonight.

I am acceding to your request to avoid conflict with you, because it is
emotionally too expensive for me. I do not consider your objection to be
cogent. For many years, many Belmont residents have placed stones on the
strip of earth between the sidewalk abutting their property and the
street. At least one of these is much larger than either of ours. Others
have erected low fences, and have planted flowers and even vegetables.
Any of these could be blamed for injury to a motorist, a pedestrian or a
cyclist. I understand that the fact that others have made unauthorized
improvements to public property might be a defense against a regulatory
action by the Town, or a criminal charge, but that it would not protect
us against a liability claim arising from the presence of these two
stones. I understand that our umbrella liability policy would not pay a
claim which arose as a consequence of an action which I believe would be
classified as a misdemeanor, that is, what I have styled unauthorized
improvement of public property, and that we might be held personally
liable for a claim of millions of dollars, which would ruin us. I
consider the probability of such a catastrophe to be so very small that
I am willing to take the risk, in order to allow the grass to
reestablish itself, stopping the very substantial, unsightly, and
arguably hazardous erosion. 

You should understand that the placement of these stones was not a
unilateral act on Laura's part, but occurred with my full knowledge and
approval. I had identified the need for additional curbstone to stop the
erosion, and had asked Laura to make inquiries of the Town, which
responded only by putting down soil and seed. This will not solve the
problem, and in view of the general condition of the roads, there is no
reason to think that there will be any further action on the part of the
Town. 

I understand that I continue to hurt you by excluding you from my
deliberations with Laura concerning the renovation, repair and
maintenance of the property at 178 School Street. I believe that in the
past, you at least once described such behavior on my part as
"objectively rude". I think that you might well characterize me as
committing a form of emotional elder abuse, and that you comfort
yourself that I do so only because Laura forces me to it, as a condition
of our marriage. That is not the case; Laura's malign influence is not
to blame. The problem, as I think you know, is between you and me, or
perhaps ultimately, between me and myself. I need to be by myself, in my
own decision making space, or perhaps in a decision making space that I
can dominate. I am sorry, but I expect that I will continue to hurt you
in this way. You will have to do whatever is necessary to protect
yourself.

I remember vividly a scene in Konnarock, sometime in the 1970s. It was
one of the last great conflicts; we may even have left a day early. I
remember standing halfway up the stairs, cowering, although I was at
least an adolescent. You were in the hallway, and your father was in an
adjacent room. "Du hast nicht viel Zeit mehr", he shouted at you. "Du
hast auch nicht viel Zeit mehr", you shouted back. I do not know how
much time either of us has, but I know that I do not want to dissipate
my emotional resources in interpersonal conflict. I have been
preoccupied by this matter for the last 24 hours, and that is enough.

Please tell Mommy that I will be there for supper between 6 and 6:30. I
left too early this morning to remind the children to speak with her,
because I wanted to stand on the Western Avenue bridge in the rain to
watch Rebekah's Mather House boat pass by. 

I will move the second stone this tonight. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ernst Meyer [mailto:ernstmeyer@earthlink.net] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 12:03 PM
To: Meyer, Klemens
Subject: Objection

The grass strip between the paved sidewalk and the granite curbstone
where Laura has placed two small boulders is not your property. That
grass strip belongs to the Town of Belmont.
It is part of a public way, obstruction
of which by an abutter is illegal and might arguably contribute to a
serious traffic accident.

At such time and under such circumstances as would not contribute to
intrafamily conflict, I would ask her to remove the boulders.