For the last few weeks, our dog Wingo has been spending an inordinate amount of time in our backyard, and coming home inexplicably dirty. I finally followed him out there one night to discover that he had found a way through our fence and into the neighbor’s yard — which, conveniently, has a giant hole in its opposite fence, providing access into their neighbor’s yard. As near as I can tell, this pattern continues through several more yards. Who knows what he’s been doing out there in the wide world? Probably smoking cigarettes and stealing other dogs’ lunch money.

In response, Sally and I sealed up the dog door until we had a chance to visit Home Depot this weekend. The result of that trip is the pictured lattice-work “fence,” which is attached to our railing and the existing wire fence by means of plastic cinch ties, and which is at once a terrible eyesore and a great source of personal pride.

To paraphrase Robert Frost, “good fences [that look like they were built with materials purloined from an abandoned construction site] make good neighbors.”