My daughter understands that the government over reaches. Now if only the government would understand.Today was a hot day in NJ. So hot that many schools, including Crim Elementary, which both of my kids attend, closed early. I picked my daughter up and had her with me for the rest of the day. I had things to do, work for clients that couldn’t be put off. So she came with me. We went to the Bridgewater Town Offices, to learn the specific rules regarding putting a fence on ones private property. Getting the information was easy enough, and the people in the town zoning office were pleasant & helpful. It was the rules themselves that led to my observation of my daughters feelings toward governments reach. OK, so here’s a synopsis of the rules in question. You may put a fence on the border of your property ONLY IF that fence is less than six feet in height, and is an “open fence”. An open fence is one that has spaces at least equal in aggregate size to the fence slats or pickets. You may install a “solid fence” only within the same setback lines applicable to building on your property. A solid fence is a stockade fence, or a chain link fence woven through the link with ribbon of any sort. The rules are simple enough to understand. My eight year old daughter Morgan is inquisitive & asks lots of questions, which her mom & I encourage. So we were talking about the rules regarding erecting a fence, and she asked me a question that I couldn’t answer. “Why is the government allowed to tell someone what kind of fence they can build on their own yard?” Now, I have to admit, Morgan was a bit stymied here. Dad can answer most of the questions she asks. When I couldn’t answer this one, she started brainstorming with me. I loved her conclusion. America is a free country. It’s dumb that the government is allowed to tell you what kind of fence you can have. You should write to our Senator to tell him to fix that.I’ve e-mailed a link to this post to Senator Lautenberg. I’d have sent it to Senator Menendez as well, but he doesn’t publish his web page.