Earlier I posted pictures about the Canadian Geese finally arriving. I was genuinely excited for their arrival. I woke up to their honking in the yard. When I saw their location in the yard I was immediately concerned. In the 5 years I have lived here they have never come down this far into the yard; as the ponds are located towards the top and side of the property. Upon scanning the property I noticed the neighbor's dogs scouting them out. It made be quite angry.

Now, for the context of my anger. I try to be a good neighbor. I mow the neighbor's yards when they need it. I work on their vehicles and mowers, clean their gutters, fix their HVAC systems, do carpentry, and sometimes even plumbing. If I do charge it's a very low rate. I've even had people ask me "Are you sure that's all". I don't mind charging such a low rate because I do it out of kindness. We live in one of the poorest counties in the nation and if I can help someone save some cheddar I will sacrifice my time and skills to accomplish that.

So, I have a neighbor who has lived around me for about 2-3 years. I've helped him out quite frequently and he has even commented: "Frank, you are the best neighbor I have ever had".

This neighbor has two dogs. The dogs roam freely and that is fine. Everyone's dogs do...it's the country. Last summer, the dogs started being a nuisance. We have a shoe box on our front porch and the dogs began to open up the shoe box and have literally destroyed hundreds of dollars of shoes. The first time it happened it was my favorite pair of Rocky Boots.

I was nice about it and went over and told him. I simply asked him to try to keep his dogs over on his property.

It started to get progressively worse. One of the dogs started getting into the elderly couple's trash that lives on the 5 acres with me. The husband is real particular about mowing the yard and keeping everything trimmed. He was not putting up with dogs getting into his trash.

We talked about it and came up with a feasible solution. He had an invisible fence that he didn't use. So, we talked to the other neighbor about the issue of the trash. The elderly neighbor offered his electric fence and I offered my time to install the fence over almost two acres. The neighbor with the dogs only had to buy the shock collars. Problem solved, right?

That's a big negative. It only got worse. The dogs started roaming the country side and bringing trash from everywhere into our yard. One time we even had a mattress in our yard they drug from houses that are probably 10 acres away. We actually watched these two dogs drag this mattress across the pasture and leave it in our yard! They started using the property directly around our houses as their personal poop palace. One time they tried to attack my cat at 2 am in the morning. Imagine waking up to that commotion!

The dog owner neighbor and I had some additional words when his dog managed to chew up the new boots I bought to replace the Rocky Boots! I wasn't as kind during this exchange. Not only did he manage to get another expensive pair of boots but his smaller dog had started becoming aggressive and growling/barking at the children IN MY YARD! The dogs began chasing cars that go down our long driveway.

One time the UPS guy wouldn't even exit his vehicle because one of the neighbor dog s was acting aggressively towards him. The poop bombs were getting worse... One should not have to step in Grand Canyon sized deuces(one dog is a Great Dane) in their own yard when they don't own dogs. The neighbors next to me have a dog, but he's a Chow. If you know anything about Chows, they don't poop where they roam. He actually goes into the pasture by us and I laugh every time I see him go his spot because that dude goes a long way to drop a deuce.

So, the neighbor never took us up on our offer for the free invisible fence and labor. The nuisance dog owner and I have had approximately 5 conversations in regard to these dogs throughout this whole process. I was starting to get pretty frustrated and became really frustrated last week when the neighbor lady (whose husband died in March) asked me "What are we going to do with those dogs, Frank? They have been barking next to my window at 12 and 1 in the morning. They shit(her words, not mine) in our dog's food bowl".

Fast Forward to the Geese. This was the straw that broke the camel's back. I did something I have never done before. I called the Sheriff. I was calling to see what options I had if these dogs were to come on my property again. Specifically, I wanted to know if I could shoot them. I know that is cruel. Especially, when it's more the fault of a negligent owner than the animal. I just had enough of the BS.

The Sheriff offered to talk to him before I did anything irrational. It wasn't my intention when I picked up the phone for the Sheriff to drop by the neighbor's house and give him a warning, but that's what happened before it was even 8 a.m. Truthfully, it made me feel really uncomfortable. My wife kept telling me it was the right thing to do.

So, I just accepted the situation at hand and went on with my day. I went to help my wife's aunt replace the struts on her Subaru. I read Ask Me Anything chat Q & A at the VIVA chat room. I Responded to some steemit posts. ...Just went on with my day.

Then I got the phone call. "You think that's funny don't you Frank having the Sheriff over at my house that early in the morning"? "I told you, neighbor. You need to keep your dogs out of my yard. We have asked you over and over". "Well if you shoot my dogs you are going to regret it you Mother F%$cker".

This is when my anger took hold and I felt the War Vet come out. It wasn't the nice Lex you are all used to witnessing. It's a part of me I try to bury very deeply because it's a side of me I don't like. Suppressing my anger is one of the habits I have developed and I cope with it by drinking and secluding myself. I wasn't suppressing that anger today and we had a very heated conversation. He ended up hanging up on me. This pissed me off even more.

I was heated. I was having some very bad thoughts and began to wonder if I may do something that would end me up in pokey. I won't elaborate, but I went into a very very bad place for hours. I just kept telling myself though..."You are not drinking Frank" and I didn't. However, I didn't know how to cope with the anger because it's an emotion I shut down by being self-destructive. As each minute passed after that conversation; the more pissed off I was getting.

I started a fire trying to calm myself down. I cleaned my room some. But shit I was still mad. Ready for action mad.
Then I decided to get on Steemit again.

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The first reply I see is this:

Congratulations on your sobriety! @mama-pepper the @little-peppers and I were all praying for you earlier. Jesus is who gave me the strength to forever break the bondage of drugs and alcohol. I used to live in a bottle for a long time.

If the Son has set you free, you are free indeed. Keep it up, one day at a time Brother!

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My eyes filled with tears and I instantly had goosebumps on my arms. There was a calmness that smacked me like fresh water hitting the lips of someone stranded in the desert.

God let me know he was there. I could let go of the anger. I didn't need to take any irrational actions. I just needed to throw it up to him.

It's a True Steemit Story.

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If you enjoyed this post please Upvote and Follow! I write a little about everything. Some posts are very personal with the intent of helping others. However, if it interests me I may just Steem about it! Steem on Steemians!