Most everyone in my family knows that I despise yard work! I had done my fair-share back in the day when push-mowers with bags were high-tech. I remember walking home from school dreading those 3 words that I knew were destined to escape my father's lips..."mow the lawn!" Granted, I did get $5....and it was definitely earned. Weeding the garden was another pastime I vowed never to punish myself with in my adult life. I had even told Adam before we were married that if he wanted a yard he was gonna have to do all the work! Well, even though he's a true plant-lover with a passion for anything that's edible, he doesn't have time to devote his life to the ever evolving yard. Reluctantly, I chipped in when we owned our first house...there was just no other way around it. And when searching for our forever home I told him, "think LOW maintenance"...and he agreed. Unfortunately, even though we live in the sticks outside of view from any passing car, we managed to purchase a house with MUCH domestic foliage...not to mention the few acres of wild trees and field.
Summer came around and it had been about 13 years since I had pushed a lawn-mower, but I found myself actually wanting to mow the lawn! And since then I've probably mowed it at least 5 times. Then, a couple of months ago, out of my own free will, I spent the day yarding wheelbarrows of blackberry bushes out of the dozens of rhodies we have scattered around the property! Most know I'm not very fond of rhododendrons...but there I was, freeing their detestable root systems. I couldn't believe the satisfaction. I was actually enjoying yard work! But there's more...
Since the purchase of our newest digs, we have cut down a large handful of trees. Cutting them down is fairly easy...it's cleaning them up that is the hard part. It really is a LOT of work clearing branches and logs. And yesterday we devoted a day to clear away more of the many, many, MANY branches scattered around. We had already created a mountain of branches in our designated burn pile during the summer and decided to set it on fire. While it burned, we continued to add to it. We got out the tractor, the 4-wheeler, and our work gloves, and worked for roughly 12 straight hours. And while I was in the thick of it I stopped to think back when I was a kid, doing that very thing with my parents on their property. I hated every minute of it, but my mother loved it...LOVED it! She would get so excited to burn brush and get her hands dirty...trying her best to make fun a day of it by roasting hot dogs and eating chili-cheese Frito's. It's weird, but now I understand why she enjoyed it so much. It was a day where we could all spend a day together working toward a common goal. The kids can even take part...and when they get bored, they go off into the woods and imagine that they are kings and queens of castles made of stumps. When mom and dad want to take a break, they sit by the fire with a Diet Coke and make plans/dreams for the newly cleared area. And yesterday as I was sweating, rake in hand, legs like jelly, blistered toes, splintered palms, standing in front of a roaring hot fire, I looked at Adam with a smile and said, "I love this...I really do love this."
No comments:
Post a Comment