Some people say you should never ignore problems with neighbors.

Others say neighbor conflicts are the ones you should avoid most, because unlike friends, you don’t get to choose who lives twelve feet away from you.

Both are true.

This story is about what happens when you try to balance those two truths.

It’s also about an apple tree.

And about the difference between being technically right and being decent.

My husband Rob and I have lived in our house for twelve years.

Dale lived next door before we arrived.

He was the kind of neighbor who knew exactly where every property line was, which utility company owned which pole, and how water drained after a heavy storm.

He wasn’t especially friendly.

But he wasn’t openly hostile either.

He kept his property neat.

Stayed mostly to himself.

Nodded when we passed.

And for years, that was enough.

Then there was the apple tree.

The tree had been there long before either of us.

It stood entirely on Dale’s property.