July was when I started building The Documentation File.
Evidence TypeDescriptionVideo Footage11 separate entries through the fence gap; 3 evening entries; 2 instances of unauthorized equipment use. Ownership RecordsOriginal contract, county building permit, final inspection certificate. Maintenance Logs12 years of weekly service invoices; tax documents showing capital improvement. Repair InvoicesContractor invoice for permanent, steel-reinforced fence repair.
In early August, I sent Sandra a formal, certified written notice detailing her trespass and demanding it cease immediately. The certified mail receipt came back signed. For three weeks, the cameras showed no activity.
On a Saturday morning in September, I came downstairs at 7:30 a.m. to make coffee, looked out the kitchen window, and saw Sandra and three children I did not recognize swimming in my pool.
I went outside.
Sandra had the expression of someone who had been caught but had prepared a response. She said the children had been looking forward to the last swim of the season.
"You need to leave my property now," I said.
She gathered the children and left through the fence gap, which she had pried open yet again. As she squeezed through, she looked back and said, "I thought you'd eventually see reason. It's just water, Rachel."