READY: Reporting almost live from Kelly Street

Ok, so Im just about hysterical over the pink dots in my driveway.

The blue markings, orange stripes, flags, stakes with colored ribbons, and huge concrete monoliths only vaguely bothered me because I didnt associate them with encroachment on my front door.

Then the PINK MYSTERY was explained to me by one of the diggers (my 3-year-old granddaughters term for the construction crew on Kelly Street). The pink paint, a few feet from my porch, means Im going to lose most of my front yard and driveway. Instead, itll be an eight foot sidewalk, and if I park there, Ill get a knock on my door from a deputy telling me to pull my truck closer to the house and get off the public right of way. Expensive grass sod laid last summer has been chewed up by bulldozers, along with my beautiful camellia tree and giant cedar. The magnolia and pear tree escaped by inches.

Walking the dog means stumbling over piles of dirt, unearthed roots, and broken concrete while avoiding deep holes. Im trying to explain to Bogie that hell eventually have a wider sidewalk and new grass. Just be patient, I told him.

In my own pursuit of patience, I contacted Joe Bodi, a city engineer who was gracious enough to come to my house and speak to me and a neighbor about our concerns.

One unhappy fact I learned is that what we thought was our property along Kelly was never ours. When our homes were built in the 1970s, the county had authority but not much interest in little Destin. Five foot sidewalks were poured, thus allowing homeowners to assume that personal front yards stopped at sidewalks edge and/or at utility poles.

While assuming is never a good idea, that assumption is valid in many communities.

I couldve verified that information on my survey and lot description, but for me thats about as useful as reading a diagram for an Egyptian water clock written in hieroglyphics. So, content with my assumptions, I cared for what I thought was my yard. Watering, mowing, and planting trees.

Well, at least now, I only have a four-foot strip of grass to maintain. And I can stand on my porch and determine the eye color of passersby on the sidewalk or hand them a pear.

Mr. Bodi offered several assurances. Grass will be replaced, sprinklers will be reconnected, any damage done to residential property will be made right, and destroyed driveways will be replaced as part of the sidewalk. Still, if I were that neighbor who lost his beautiful brick driveway, Id be upset.

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READY: Reporting almost live from Kelly Street