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When we moved to this home, we built a garden gate near the new little garden area, we created at the front of the house. Nothing like these that we have seen on trips over there & over here., of course, but a gate nonetheless. For the most part, our gates are smaller than their English & European predecessors, but they are still intended to limit access to the most personal areas of our property & to give limits to the smallest of grandchildren & family pets. Gates can also mark changes in personal roles, as people cross from one side to another, from one role to another, perhaps even from one life to another. A gate can either invite the visitor in or clearly intend to keep him out.
And it is true. Some folks I want to come in through my gates, some I do not.