Limbs of Contention

In the corner of the yard there were two palm trees. Just before I moved in, the owner removed the palms because they blocked her view of the pier. She gave them to a friend to plant in his yard.

Enter Ramon (an alias). Proprietor of Ramon's Apartmentos which is located two blocks from the beach. Ramon, who wants a shady area for his guests, planted a tree next to this property, this house, which blocks the view of the pier more than those two little palms ever did. He also planted two trees across the way, next to the yellow house's wall.

But wait! The trees are planted on a street. It's a thoroughfare to the beach. It's where people park their cars, string tarps, picnic. So now there are these trees blocking the road. With chained benches underneath. And when he has guests, he strings a shade cloth from tree to tree which means the boat launchers can no longer use the road (unless they cut down the cloth and a few branches which one boat launcher did). Weekenders from Hermosillo can no longer drive their cars down to the beach. The road is off limits. Except to the guests of Ramon.

But wait! The tree's also tall enough that pinche ladrones (asshole thieves) can climb the branches and jump into this house's yard.

There's more! As we expected would happen, local bums can use the trees as shelters. Why just today I saw Enrique...

...asleep under the tree. But do you notice something? This is the same tree as the newly-planted tree pictured above. The same tree that was planted about a week ago. IT'S DEAD! Ramon hasn't watered it.

And still there's more...more trees...

All in all Ramon planted five trees against the walls of this house. Questions which arise are...should the trees live (and that's doubtful) will the root system affect the wall? Are the trees planted the legal distance (apparently there is such a thing) from the building? My neighbors across the way, with the two new trees thanks to the generosity of Ramon, complained to the mayor who said it was okay. But the deal is, this road falls under the jurisdiction of the feds. It needs to be clear for police and ambulance access. So I guess the fight's not over. However, if the trees die, all this will be water under the bridge...or sand under the sea. Or Enrique under a dead tree.