“Redneck Stonehenge”
This is for Dogette: how to deal with problematic neighbors and also what to do with those old demolition derby cars I know you have laying around.
(AP Photo/Drew Godleski/Standard-Examiner)
HOOPER, Utah (AP) — A farmer has erected a backyard fence made of three old cars sticking up in the air to send a message to new neighbors that he can do whatever he wants on his property.
“This is just a fun way for me to say, `Hey boys, I’m still here,’” Rhett Davis said. “This is my redneck Stonehenge.”
Davis came up with the idea after neighbors who recently moved into homes next to his hayfield complained about his farm.
“The people who bought the homes say, `Well, we love looking into your yard and seeing the horses and the cattle, but we don’t like the flies, and we don’t like the mosquitoes,’ and when I cut my field to bale it, they say, `We don’t like the dust in the air,’ ” Davis said.
…Davis said he offered to pay for half the cost of a fence between his property and the others and to build it. He said his neighbors declined the offer, saying it would block their view.
…”I respect that they’re here and spent a lot on their homes, but on the other hand, give me a little bit, too,” Davis said. “I’ve been here since I was 7 years old.”
He said he doesn’t intend to keep the cars up permanently.
“These can come out just as easy as they went in,” Davis said.
I know there’s only one side given to this story but I like to think this guy is the hero because nothing says ‘good times’ like a redneck with a backhoe and a point to make.
Plus, Jesus Howard Christ. You buy a house immediately adjacent to a farm, the view of which you love and don’t want to obscure, and you’re gonna bitch about dust and flies? How very douche-y.
Yep. Love my view, love it all.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:11 amPeople moved to the neighborhood where my church is located and then complained to the state that the church bells are noise pollution.
Keep in mind that the church has been there since 1892 and there is basically no place you could buy a house in the neighborhood and not notice the giant 2,000 seat church with the huge bell tower. But somehow they were surprised by the bells???
I hate people who move into established places and then expect things to change for them. You live next to a farm there will be flies and dust. You live next to an airport there will be noise. You live next to a church there will be bells and traffic on Sunday. Accept it.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:16 amThis is exactly like folks buying houses in the approach or takeoff path of an airport and then filing lawsuits and signing petitions against the airport because of the noise.
Some folks just ain’t right.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:16 amIs it me or does that white care look like a Land Rover? Which would make this even more awesome than it already is.
You move to the country, you learn to live in the country.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:35 amI love this guys approach, it’s better than going to jail for b*tch-slapping the idiots.
I sympathize with the guy. My neighbor is a retired guy who wasn’t a problem until he retired. Now he has time on his hands and he drives me nuts with his stupidity.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:40 amLMAO!!! I saw this on Fark this morning and was going to send this to you. But then I figured, great minds think alike, and you’d find it all on your own. You didn’t disappoint!
August 5th, 2008 at 10:43 amThat is truly AWESOME!!!
There’s a mushroom farm that stinks up the area and people KNEW this but built tons of homes around anyway. And then they start complaining about the farm smell. Well duh!!!
August 5th, 2008 at 10:47 amThis is a common clash in the rural parts of the county where I live: City folks who had a ton of equity in their previous homes finally realize this “dream” of being able to live on several acres in the country. Then reality sets in and slams their romantic notions.
If you have the luxury of being able to afford a bunch of land without having to work it, fine. But keep in mind that most of your established neighbors have to make a living from their spread.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:50 amWow, this is like an exercise from law school.
Classic spite fence. You’re not allowed to put up a fence solely for the purpose of spiting your neighbors. That is, you’re allowed to put up a 20 foot tall fence if you need that fence for some purpose, but if the only reason is to block the view for your neighbor to spite him, then it’s not allowed.
There is a lot of case law supporting the rancher and his business, but there is still risk. Courts tend to favor a solution that promotes the most benefit to society. Thus, a ranch providing needed food or whatever is likely to prevail, but a guy who just likes to keep smelly animals for his own enjoyment would have more trouble.
It’s also a classic opportunity to do a very rare type of judgment. It’s happened before in a place in Arizona where they built a retirement city right next to a huge cattle ranch and slaughterhouse. The daily production of cow manure alone was staggering. The court ruled that the ranch must move to allow the people to live in peace, but the neighborhood had to pay for all of the millions of dollars to pay for the move.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:51 amRedneck heaven. I love this fence idea so much! I actually have a retaining wall made out of used tractor tires … and the liberals accuse us of not being green enough and recycling.
SHEESH!
Oh, and in case you’ve never heard of it:
August 5th, 2008 at 10:52 amGet a grip, people! The post and the link are meant to be FUNNY and they’re just something to blog and comment about in FUNNY ways. And Sunny was YAWNING that other time. Really. She was.
Sorry Rachel, I had to do it. Again.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:57 amGOOD FOR HIM! This is a classic “Green Acres” laughfest.
It’s not a spite fence, skyler. It’s not even a fence. It’s redneck artistic self-expression. Surely you’re not arguing that he has no first amendment right to make artistic statements on his own property? And from the looks of the pic and a rough guess of the parcel sizes involved, he cannnot materially be blocking anyone’s view–total angle of view concealed has to be negligible. Nor does the article indicate any anger or maliciousness on his part, only humor at most. If he was angry, those would be the neighbor’s cars in the holes….
I like to think this guy is the hero because nothing says ‘good times’ like a redneck with a backhoe and a point to make.
Amen. My kind of guy.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:09 amI read the car story this morning and laughed my butt off.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:21 amThis however I did not laugh about
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,397645,00.html
Seems like many other situations could be improved by the enthusiastic application of backhoe craftsmanship. Go Rhett!
August 5th, 2008 at 11:25 amahhhhh this sort of stuff reminds me of home and my family, hehehe
I like it, a good use of ole cars that are just sitting around.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:33 amBrooke,
No, it’s a POS Chevy.
It’s not only these sort of actions that are occurring in farm or rural areas either. I live in a typical suburban neighborhood of ranch houses built in the 40’s and 50’s. Other than being situated on large lot’s (R-20 zoning) there is nothing special about the community.
Still, we had a protracted and very devisive battle over over a “hippie” proposed overlay between the now retiring hippies who have nothing better to do with their time now that they are even more underemployed and a handful of us homeowners who still respect property rights.
You would think that we would have been in the majority, but no, we were outnumbered 8 to 1. Besides the “hippies”, their allies were the “old folks” (70’s-90’s) who thought they were protecting the neighborhood and the “young clueless” who go along to get along.
In the end we won out, not because we had the superior argument (individual rights vs. collective rights), which we did, but because we were willing to lay a substantial amount of money on the line to protect those rights. If we hadn’t I would now have to be applying to a “community committee” on the color of my house, the type of siding that my house could be sided with, any architectural changes, etc..
August 5th, 2008 at 11:34 amI too live in a rural area that’s been infested with city retirees who move in and THEN start filing complaints, so this guy is my new hero. Also, the facts cited by Skyler simply point out yet *another* thing that’s fatally screwed up about our legal system.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:35 amThere is no end to the stupidity of urbanites who move to the country.
I grew up on a farm waaaay out in the middle of nowhere, at the end of a mile long dirt road. And even back in the 70’s, we had people move in on that road and just get livid because of the dust. It was everyon else’s fault, especially my Dad’s since his had the audacity to actually work the farm after they moved in. You haven’t had a good laugh until you’ve seen one of these red-faced idiots threatening to sue you over it.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:35 am14 Karat, you beat me to the Carhenge reference — my home state’s monument to bad taste and/or pagan beliefs.
Agree with the previous posters about people who move in next door to X, and then pitch a fit about how noisy/smelly/ugly/flea-bitten/whatever X is. If there isn’t a doctrine in law called “you knew it was here before you, so deal with it”, there oughta be … *^)
August 5th, 2008 at 11:37 amTully, it doesn’t have to be a fence to be a spite fence. “Spite fence” is just the legal term for doing something for the sole purpose of pissing off your neighbor.
And frankly, I think that’s exactly why the farmer himself uses the term “fence.” He might have some advice from a lawyer, which is why he’s careful to say that he can easily take it back down again.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:42 amSunny was obviously just YAWNING.
I’m an excellent driver.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:48 amAround here, you have idiots who move to acreages out in the country (fairly easy to find; a lot of farmers’ former homes are available—the land itself is being used, but they don’t want to tear down the house/buildings, so they can often be had fairly cheaply) and then howl to high heaven because the country smews aw icky, or something like that. Idiots.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:51 amAh, country… Hey I’ve had more fun on the tractor than I care to admit. Also, the beer siren on the barn. If you hear it, and you can for miles, don’t bitch about the noise just come on over pull up a chair and have a drink.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:57 amLet’s not forget Cadillac Ranch.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:58 amDid you fart, Dogette? Did you fucking fart?
Fart.
Ten minutes to Wapner.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:00 pmI always wondered what the “H.” stood for. Thanks, Rachel.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:00 pmThis guy is one of my new heroes, right behind Ted Nugent and whoever designed the fragrance for that body lotion that all strippers wear.
Seriously though, yankee-ass city folks who don’t know anything about anything that happens outside of the little box that they live in really piss me off. So they like the animals, but don’t like the flies? What an outrage! I can’t believe the audacity of that redneck farmer who refuses to raise fly-free livestock!
This reminds me of fairly well-known little story from around my town. I live in a little sugar-cane town in South Florida. As a lot of you may know, the cane fields have to be burned to rid the cane of all the excess foliage before the stalks can be harvested. It’s bad enough that you can barely get to work because snowbird, blue-haired yankees are slowing down or stopping in the middle of the road to marvel at the cane fire, but there was one guy who took it too far. Apparently he was passing through and witnessed an atrocity that he had to report…he claimed to have seen a rabbit run out of the cane field completely covered with flames. So what did this d-bag do? He writes a letter to the editor of the Palm Beach Post complaining about the barbarism of the local farmers because in his ignorant mind, he thought the purpose of the cane fire was to get rid of the critters who lived among their crops. This article was framed on the wall in the local emergency room, library, and a few of the U.S. Sugar office buildings. We all laughed at it…still do.
August 5th, 2008 at 12:44 pmReminds me of the clowns that are demanding foot baths and all that other shit (for instance, special menus at decades old restaurant chains) when they move into American neighborhoods and their numbers start to grow.
Douche-y. Please come up with a word to describe those that placate douche-y people. Dhimmi-y? Hope-y Change-y?
Well, we’re gonna tolerate ourselves right into a New World Order if we don’t snap out of it.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:17 pmWell, there is culture on this site. Carhenge is described as “car art” by the locals of Alliance, Nebraska. And Cadillac Ranch is the granddaddy of all car art installations. I’ve been to both. On top of that, As a city yankee now living on a small acreage in the midst of horse ranches and farms, we have a smaller but similar problem. Some folks move in here and then immediately start petitioning for street lights and sidewalks. We used to catch a glimpse of the milky way it was so dark here but even on acreages, if the neighbors leave their houses lit like Las Vegas all night, you can put the telescope away. I personally like the smell of horseshxt in the morning although by afternoon it sometimes prohibits inhalation. By the same token, I wouldn’t dream of complaining to those folks. Their properties and occupations are part of the charm of the area. Dragging along behind large and inexplicable farm equipment is one of a very few times slow drivers are interesting rather than dimwitted.
Oh, and Tolbert: Kiss my red-blooded, American and bowtied butt, loser.
As for Range Rover, Ta-Ta!!
August 5th, 2008 at 1:19 pmDo what?! Davis is being way too lenient with those asshats. They may have spent a lot of money on their homes, but they’ve spent not a cycle of grey matter processing on the subject.
Davis, I’ll give you your little bit: I hereby give you the absolute, moral high ground, inalienable, by reason and by God right to say, “Fuck you, you fucking fucks.”
August 5th, 2008 at 1:29 pmGood man, that.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:36 pmThis is most definitely NOT a Robert Frost moment.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:37 pm::faints::
That is the funniest line in the history of everything funny. Holy shit.
August 5th, 2008 at 1:57 pmThere is simular situation going on in a little town in Michigan called Frankenmuth. It is a city that was established in what at the time was an almost completely uninhabited area of Michigan in the 1830’s. It is now a resort Town which specializes in family style fried chicken resturants and other amenities as well as what is advertised as the worlds larget 363 day a year Christmas Store, and has been a very religious enclave for over a hundred years. The story is that recently an athesist bought a house in the town and of course started in with lawsuits etc because there were, in his mind, too many religious displays and specifically too many Crosses which made him uncomfortable. You have to know that the Christmas Store with it’s Angels, Crosses, etc. takes up about an area the size of a shopping center all by itself, so he had to have known that he was moving into an area that has a lot of religious symbols and a fairly religious population. I was recenly up there and I saw that many of the other residents as a protest have now placed small white crosses on their lawns and businesses. I understand the Church and State seperation issues of course, but no one forced this guy to move there. If he did not like the religious nature of the city he should have found another area to live.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:07 pm“Oh, Rhett!” I love this!
The Yankee come-heres up in Albemarle County, home of the infamous Charlottesville-ains, managed to push through a “Mountaintop Protection” ordinance, because they didn’t want the old timers selling to developers and spoiling their view.
Their view? They didn’t pay for the view!
———————
pffffft! That would depend on what state he lived in, wouldn’t it?
August 5th, 2008 at 2:25 pmwillowgerl
Yes. Yes it is. Rachel, your words, demotivated!
August 5th, 2008 at 2:26 pmI thought of Dogette too when I saw the story… the perfect neighbor block. Excellence in action. LOL.
August 5th, 2008 at 2:37 pmOh it is because of good ole boys like this fine gentleman that I know the world hasn’t fully gone to liberal moonbats.
I really miss living in the country…I miss almost breaking an ankle in the possum holes,and yet waking up to misty green fields and horses grazing.
The most I have ever appreciated the farms,and hardworking of the land was growing up in King George County,Virginia.
I love the neighbors who would bring over tons of tomatoes,and whatever else was in their gardens…you traded food and homemade wine instead of buying it at the stores.
We’re due for a visit to South Carolina next week…this article reminds me of why I love having a good ole country upbringing.
August 5th, 2008 at 4:39 pmSpeaking with the absolute moral authority as only one of those people who sold the suburban SoCal quarter acre for sixteen in SE Texas can, we. love. it. out. here.
August 5th, 2008 at 5:37 pmWe CAME from the place where people bought 3/4 million-dollar condos under the airport and then lobbied to have it moved because of noise.
We CAME from the place where people bought half-million dollar houses (or more) near MCAS Miramar and couldn’t believe the Marines actually trained. With helicopters no less.
Fuck ‘em.
We came out here because we liked what we saw and hope to be a part of it.
Those jackasses give people like me a bad name.
I just grind my teeth and go to the meetings…Best Dragstrip in the PNW was slowly strangled by a developer who build RIGHT up to the pit fences and sold houses IN THE OFF SEASON. Opening Day 1979 was a REAL EYE-OPENER! The gas dragsters and TF dragsters and funny cars started lighting off, shaking things off the shelves. It took YEARS and fight after fight and more and more restrictions…first was no more Midnight Racing, Moonlight Drags and No more Wednesday Night Grudge Matches. Then no racing after 9PM and no startups before 9AM, finally forced the strip into bankrupcy when they banned the LOUD motorcycles running the road course and the road racers..
Ptui, there is still racing there but its VERY subdued.
A POX on all their houses.
August 5th, 2008 at 7:24 pmThis posting also reminded me of the ol’ fambly business.
My family owned and operated the local stock yards in our area. (”Every Hoof Under Roof”) It was surrounded by low-rent housing. I describe the neighborhood as poor white. Some do-gooder minister made it his temporary cause to try to make trouble on behalf of the neighbors. He had to be reminded that the stock yards was there first. Never mind that a lot of folks living nearby had jobs there.
Manure? That was the smell of money.
August 5th, 2008 at 10:16 pmWe got a new neighbor about three years ago who used to get drunk on his patio every weekend. He lived at least 1/4 mile from us, yet constantly complained about how our dogs were always outside barking at him. When the sheriff came to the house to investigate, we explained that our dogs were in the house; what that drunken idiot was hearing was our five goats. The sheriff laughed, then went and told him to shut up and sleep it off.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:00 pmBest DeMotivator Ever!
To the Blog with it!
August 6th, 2008 at 12:51 amIt’s Hubert. Jesus Hubert Christ.
August 6th, 2008 at 3:59 am14K:
Do you have a blog? If not, why not? You must get one.
I’m still snorking over “Nail Gun Fight: Not As Awesome As It Sounds.” (Yeah, I know I’m in the wrong thread.)
August 6th, 2008 at 6:58 amChuck, when that asshole in Frankenmuth started the whole “remove the Christian Cross from the shield” carp, it was on the local news here for weeks. I can remember my first thought was that it was too bad the unwelcome wagon and tar, feathers, and a splintered rail were not available.
It’s bad enough when locals squabble, but to have some rabble-rouser move to town and then try to start this shit …
Seems to be par for the course though, some years ago in Caro, a nearby town, some wacko Wiccan women started whining about the tradition of the nativity scene on the city hall lawn. I guess if you can’t get people interested in your “tradition” (think, also, Kwanzaa) then trash someone else’s traditions.
The biggest problem I have with city slickers moving out here is finding friggin’ golf balls in the pasture all the time. I swear, if I ever find a golf ball sized bruise on one of the horses, there’s going to be some golfing from the pasture, with dozens of retrieved balls, seeing how good my aim is at their windows!
August 6th, 2008 at 8:17 amMy aunt and uncle have a commercial stables and a ranch in the mountains in Colorado Springs. They’ve had it for years and years. City people bought a cabin about a 1/2 mile from them and have complained to the city about the horse droppings on the (rutted, narrow, dirt) road. I guess the many signs saying “Stables” didn’t give them a clue.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:36 am