What's Missing From This Picture?

This is a shot of the southeast corner of Higley and Elliot, and at first glance there is nothing at all missing. There is one sort of hole next to the sidewalk on the the right side of the picture, and that is the clue. Anyone who regularly uses this path to walk to the shopping center will know immediately what is going on. We used to have light bollards along this sidewalk. And there used to be the same light bollards around the lake. And there are still some light bollards in various places in Morrison Ranch. They look like this:


We think they are attractive and fit the motif of Morrison Ranch, and offer good light. The only problem is the paint. It cannot stand up to water, at least not the amount of water required to keep our trees and grass in good shape. The paint peels, it looks terrible, we have had them repainted, tried different paints and coatings...and the Water Expert has gone gray trying to keep up with these light bollards. In the picture at the very top, you can see that we have removed them completely. There is plenty of light from the street lights and the businesses. Around the lake, we have replaced them with the tall lights:


And we are still discussing solutions for the rest of Morrison Ranch. But the Water Expert is still being plagued by those bollards in one way or another. This time it's vandalism. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate vandalism? Destroying something just for the sake of destruction seems more than irresponsible. It seems disrespectful. But I digress. The bollards in Lakeview Trails are disappearing, cut off from the base. This is what The Water Expert has been finding:


To what end, I wonder? They could never be used in the condition they are taken; and the base left behind can never be used for a replacement. Sigh. So it is back to installing or hiring some security. We have filed police reports and we will press charges when we catch the vandals. In the meantime, the Saga of the Bollards continues.