Hello, Neighbors.  I am writing because, for the past several weeks, I have been waking up to my street-side plants being broken off.  The first few times they were broken low to the ground so, although sad, I assumed that they were broken by a parked car.  Now, however, I have woken up to broken-off dogwood shrubs and black bamboo at several levels. I contacted Jill Severn after I read her rant in the last neighborhood association newsletter about keeping sidewalks cleared to see if she had any insight regarding who was doing this or why.  So, I have a rant of my own.  It is extremely frustrating to have people vandalising the plants on my property due to their inability to be mature enough to have a conversation about something that might be bothering them.  I truly want to be a part of this neighborhood and it's association, but have been reluctant for years because of actions such as these.  I cannot help that my property line goes to the edge of a much too narrow sidewalk on a much too narrow street.  I cannot help that the City took 8.5 feet of our property to create that sidewalk and street which places our house 7 FEET from a very busy sidewalk that is frequently used.  I realize that if you don't know our family or circumstances that you might assume that we are careless about our vegetation and being neighborly, but this is simply not the case.  I planted plants for privacy for our bedroom windows that I thought all might be able to enjoy as opposed to a solid 6' privacy fence.  In addition, the bamboo was thought to be a helpful buffer for pedestrians who are less than comfortable walking too close to our dogs.  I also can't help that I am a dog lover.  So, the sumation of my rant is this:  Knock on a door, have a conversation, meet your neighbors before you decide to be angry and rouge and ruin their property.  They just might surprise you with their willingess to be reasonable and neighborly.  If you don't try, you'll never know. Thanks, jrae