Our neighbors found a property marker the other day. At first, they didn’t know what it was. Surely it couldn’t have remained hidden almost 23 years. But that is exactly what it was — and exactly what it had done. We looked at our original plats and deeds — and we are now the proud owners of a few feet more prime Virginia clay soil, another 70-foot oak tree. And every fall (the best part), we now must rake and bag hundreds more bushels of leaves.

In other words, we didn’t welcome our new acquisition. And we’ve joked about how long it will take us to turn the lush, well groomed strip of land into a bumpy, grass-bare parcel.

I’m reading a history of Fairfax County and learning how often the same land was deeded twice. Deciding boundaries kept surveyors and courts busy for decades. Sometimes property lines were intentionally ignored, but other times the confusion came from surveyor error. Trees or rocks were used for landmarks — and then the trees or rocks would disappear.

Makes me feel better about our little suburban boundary confusion. And just to think, we settled it without a surveyor or court.