It came from a time long before I owned the property.
I also continued photographing activity around the southwest corner.
By the time the hearing approached, I had 41 documented entries.
Board vehicles.
Signs.
Photographs taken from the highway.
The original visit when Margaret had arrived with her process server and attached notices to my fence.
I wasn’t trying to collect evidence of a secret conspiracy.
I wanted an accurate record.
Every photograph had a date.
Every entry had a location.
Every description stuck to what I could actually observe.
If Margaret later claimed I had blocked the road, threatened residents, or interfered with normal access, the record would tell a different story.
Meanwhile, I kept working.
The northern fields needed attention.
Drainage repairs couldn’t be postponed because a neighboring association president had developed an obsession with my deed.
I repaired fence.
Cleared fallen branches.
Met contractors about improvements.
Spent mornings walking the property with a notebook.
But the lawsuit had a way of intruding even when I was miles from the road.
Once, while I was working near an old equipment shed, a vehicle slowed on a distant service lane.
A board member I’d seen with Margaret stepped out and took photographs toward the farm.
I walked over.
“Can I help you?”
The man lowered his phone.
“Just checking things.”
“What things?”
“Property developments.”
“Are you with the county?”
“No.”
“Then what authority are you checking under?”
“I’m with Cedarwood Ridge.”
“I know.”
He shifted uncomfortably.
“We have to make sure you’re not planning anything that affects our access.”
“Does this shed affect your road?”
He looked at it.
“No.”
“Then you can tell Margaret there’s nothing to report.”
He returned to his vehicle without another word.
A week later, I learned that Margaret had contacted the county about permits for farm improvements on the northern portion of my property.
She suggested that the unresolved road dispute justified additional review of my applications.
The road was nowhere near the proposed improvements.
David submitted a response explaining that the unrelated farm work did not depend on the disputed access corridor.
The county declined to suspend the permits on that basis.
When David called with the news, I asked him one question.
