The house sits on a corner lot and it has been yellow since long before the newlyweds arrived. They started with remarks, then demands, then the police and the city, both of whom told them there was no rule I was breaking. They sued. It was thrown out and they paid my legal fees. Then they went door to door trying to raise an HOA to force me to repaint, and the street told them where to go, and after that almost nobody spoke to them at all.

Then I went away for three weeks, and I came back to a grey house and nearly drove past my own driveway. The man across the road had photographed the whole job and had called the police while it was happening, but the crew had a signed work order and a paid invoice, so there was nothing to stop.