The tree in the front yard survived. I was ready to let it go, but the crews worked around it. They dug up the street, replaced the huge pipes that go underground, filled the trech with gravel and eventually covered it with blacktop. The road will be resurfaced next year. While the road was dug up, we had some basic plumbing done, too. We had our sewer lateral (the one that was being destroyed by tree roots) replaced. It was expensive, but less so than if we’d done it at some other time – namely, when the street wasn’t already dug up.

And so it goes – the road work provided entertainment in the form of trees and city council meetings, opportunities to both spend and save money, ecological and not-so-eco-logical events, and an interesting view. View? Here it is, folks: my front yard during the sewer work.

I guess I can’t tell them to stay off my lawn.

Just stay away from my campaign signs, punks.