I have a neighbor for whom we have no use, so here's what I did about it in today's snow/ice storm.

[NNadir]

First: Let me tell you why we have no use for her.

One day, she came up to my wife and informed here that (to use her exact words) "One of your squirrels, took one of your walnuts and stained "my sidewalk" and you're lucky I was able to get "your stain" out of "my sidewalk."

It would be one thing if this was the first such communication, but it was the last in a long series of similar commentaries about my property and, for that matter, the property of everyone else on the block.

We had a magnificent black walnut tree at the time. They release a chemical called juglone that can leave orange stains.

She left a message on our phone to let us know how happy she was when we had to take it down to get a $40,000 new septic system. I was, of course, livid, especially since they regraded their yard so rain would flow across my septic field, but I didn't say a fucking thing, because we weren't speaking:

After about five or six years of this stuff, we stopped talking to her and her weirdo husband, while feeling sorry for her kids.

Anyway. We're having a huge snow and ice storm. I have an battery electric snowblower; I know they don't have a snowblower.

So here's what I did about it: I took my snowblower and cleaned their sidewalk with it.

Why did I do that?

Because I don't want to be like a fucking Trump like MAGAT. That's why.

[MIButterfly]

1. I'd say it's because you're a good, decent human being.

Good for you. The phrase "kill them with kindness" comes to mind.

I have to keep reminding myself over and over again: I cannot control what other people say or do; I can only control how I react to it, what I say or do. Sometimes it's really hard.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Hope she asks u why u did it

'just being neighborly'. she prob hates the civic-minded.

[NNadir]

5. I won't say a damned thing if she does. We're still not speaking.

[waterwatcher123]

3. I hope you were able to salvage the black walnut (they are like gold to woodworkers).

It was magnanimous of you too to clear the sidewalk in front of her house. Maybe just ignore her and/or wear ear buds when she and her husband are in close proximity to your house. You can take the Husky (dog) approach to suggestions or orders too (which is to ignore most everything unless it involves treats).

[dem4decades]

4. We have new neighbors across the street, last snowstorm they were away.

I went over with my snowblower and did their driveway so that they wouldn't have to deal with it when they returned. I was out cleaning up my sidewalk when they returned, I didn't notice but my wife did, and she's not happy they didn't give a wave over my way. She let me know that I will not be doing their driveway again.

[nuxvomica]

6. Nice gestures always confound difficult people

They either think you must be up to something or it just plain confuses them, like challenging an evil robot with a paradox (which based on my study of sci-fi inevitably causes their heads to explode).

[electric_blue68]

8. "error"..."Error"...ERROR!"..."ErRoWWw!"....

BOOM!!!

I've watched a few myself! 👍 😄

[Skittles]

7. I hear you

I refuse to let the disgusting behavior of assholes influence my own.

[electric_blue68]

9. "YOUR squirrel"? 😄😄 Pffffttttt...

Oh, Black Walnut tree?
Were you able harvest the walnuts?

Did once on a guided wild foods walk. 🤔
Textured green fruit about the size of a ?baseball. And tasty black walnut seed.
I think we got it from a tree in NYC's Central Park.

[NNadir]

10. Yes, "our squirrel." She must think they all have names. The black walnuts are delicious and extremely healthy...

...since they are one of only three know types of organisms to produce the highly unsaturated fatty acid eicospentenoic acid (EPA). The other two are some species of algae that account for the presence of EPA in fish oil (from the food chain), and the other is human breast milk. It's presence in breast milk is believed to play a role in intellectual development.

The problem with black walnuts is they are covered with green hulls which turn black, with the intermediate color being orange which causes deep stains, on one's hands. Therefore one has to wear gloves when removing the hulls and old clothing is recommended.

It's a lot of work to get to the nuts; the shells are very hard. However it is worth the effort for the taste. It's magnificent.

[electric_blue68]

13. Ah so that's what EPA stands for! And ...

Interesting about the algae + fish > fish oil connection.

Right...you mentioned the stains on her pavement. I didn't know the husks turned orange (from green) before going black.

How did you find out about the black walnuts the realtor, previous home owner, tree identifier book? I only found out through a wild food walk.
What a treat to have.

[NNadir]

14. The tree was huge, probably 15 or 20 meters high. It did make me nervous in high winds as it was very near my house.

I don't remember who told me what the tree was, but it filled the driveway with walnuts, so it was hard to miss. (They also filled the gutters.) It may have been my neighbor across the street, a birder and something of a amateur naturalist, one of those "amateurs" who is very sophisticated. (Unfortunately he passed away about a decade ago.)

I'm something of an amateur tree hugger; I've had a long obsession with the nearly extinct - with efforts for restoration - American Chestnut, a tree that once dominated the Eastern forest until an Asian blight was introduced when someone imported the Asian Chestnut, which was immune from the blight it carried, but for which the American Chestnut had no resistance.

One of the things about me is that when someone tells me something interesting about a tree, I eventually, sometimes immediately, go to the scientific literature, where I learned all about EPA (on which I'd ironically done some work professionally, as it has been used as a medical treatment) and juglone.

Juglone is actually something of an herbicide. This property in trees is known as "allelopathy." It "protects" the tree from competing trees and underbrush. It kills tomatoes for instance, something I found out when I tried to grow tomatoes near it.

One solution for the husk problem was actually to drive over the nuts and spray the area with water to wash away the juglone.

Interestingly, the American Chestnut is also an Allelopathic tree; I've had two on my property, one which died from the blight, and another that is still alive that I grew from the seeds of the first tree before the blight killed it. American Chestnuts can grow a few years before the blight gets them. There are many restoration attempts underway for this important tree, once the dominant tree of the American Eastern forest; it was known as the Eastern forest's answer to the redwood.

One approach is to crossbreed the tree with Asian resistant trees. Another effort, which I support, is to use genetic engineering. I follow these efforts in the literature.

[electric_blue68]

15. I alwsys have to run to the meters feet conversion chart!...

Yup that's a tall tree.

So, did some husks break open so you could see the walnut shell? Or you drove over some husks and then saw them.

I like the feature where I can highlight a word; and cut, copy or define show up as choices - which is what I did for
juglone, before your next paragraph regarding it's herbicide attributes.
Ohh, well, about your tomatoes. Hopefully you picked a safe area yo plant them.

Too had about losing your interesting neighbor.

I'm an artist, and crafter who also enjoys science; most often the earth, and space related sciences. So, yeah, I've read up on the general biology of trees, and occasionally specifics.

Interestingly, a piece on my Google feed showed up a few days ago on the American Chestnut. A scientist perhaps growing (I think) /or tracking a pretty big stand of them up in Maine.

If you're growing a new one from the one that eventually got infected - won't it get infected, or some small percent are resistant.

As a ?4th grader or so waaaay back I unfortunately witnessed the Dutch Elm disease disaster in NYC. We lived on an avenue originally lined with tall elms; about 5 to 7 stories high.

I came home one day from school to find they'd just sawed down the tree on my building's corner. Luckily, the two on the next block north survived! Haven't been in that old nabe of mine in several years; but at least at last visit they were still there.

.ETA.
Did you see applegrove's " moment of zen" post? They put up a lovely painting of "tree crown" shyness. Which IRL I noticed myself in a grove of pkanted trees

[Floyd R. Turbo]

11. You are a better person than me!

Much better!

[NNadir]

12. Well maybe, but I'm nowhere near as funny as you are.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

17. Funny!

Funny how! 😁

[NNadir]

19. Oh shit! Not Joe Pesci!?!

[Floyd R. Turbo]

22. 😬

[Laffy Kat]

16. Excellent!

My father always said, "Kill your enemies with kindness; it really pisses them off." So true.

[Vinca]

18. I hope you at least blew the snow up onto her porch.

[snot]

20. Good for you!

I'd never presume to tell everyone they should follow your example, but

"Hatred never ceases by hatred;
But by love alone is healed.
This is an ancient and eternal law."
-- "Dhammapada," Ch. 1, the Twin Verses 5, as quoted by Maha Ghosananda.

And when you have to live next door to them for who knows how long, trying to de-escalate can be worthwhile.

[UTUSN]

21. Decades after a family rift my mother kept on with participation

and my sister asked her why, after what they had done. Mother said, "Because you don't want to be like them, do you?"

However, I'm not forbearing. I hold grudges.