If you have a backyard Wastewater Pipe and Maintenance Hole, the City may want to have a word with you

If you don't want an emergency visit from the City, call the cops

I don't know about you, but my blood pressure spikes and my breathing becomes labored when I get a letter from the City of Davis Public Works Utilities & Operations Department.

I mean, it's not likely they're writing to tell me what to do if I should strike oil in our East Davis backyard while planting petunias.

Addressed personally to "UTILITY CUSTOMER," the subject line says simply "Backyard Easement to Wastewater (sewer) Pipes and Maintenance Holes."

I have no idea what that sentence means. Actually, I have no idea if that's even a sentence.

Still, are there random holes in the backyard we don't know about? Should we keep the kids inside?

I remember when I was a kid growing up in Oeste (rhymes with "Toasty") Manor, my older brother and I were fond of taking our little shovels and digging holes in the backyard.

When the holes got too deep, Dad would warn us that if kept on digging we'd soon end up in China. He proved it by showing us a globe of the world when we came in for dinner and sure enough, there was China, directly under Davis if you looked at it from a certain angle.

I don't remember if Dad got letters from the city as well.