A Few Scores

In my quest to be a real man, I am presented with a number of obstacles that test me on so many levels. Life would be so much simpler if I just paid my taxes and let the government dictate the direction of my life. Then again, do I really want to be like most of the people on the planet?

Nah!

In my quest to deal with my life before our trip, I've actually managed to get some things done. I know, it sounds unbelievable, but it's much more doable with Ruth at home to help out. At least make sure the kids are safe and sound, because I usually end up having to take a break and make lunch, anyway.

Today is Sunday, and I'm really going to push my luck and try to get the compost onto the garden this afternoon. Kurt said I could borrow his trailer, and there's a funny story attached to this. A couple of them, actually.

He said I was welcome to use the trailer, but nobody was home to help me hitch it up and I was welcome to come over and try for myself. So I went, and after spending no small amount of time looking it over, it dawned on me that I don't have a proper trailer hitch. I need the big ball on the end, and I had no idea where to get one. I thought about trying to get the one off of Kurt's truck, then it dawned on me. Just use the whole damn truck. Kurt was cool about it, he always is.

He said he was going to put the plow on and test it, and I asked him if he was going drive the truck through his garden and plow up the dirt. He started laughing and had to remind me that it was a "snow" plow, but what he was really thinking was, "Are you a complete loser flatlander, or what?" It was a little embarrassing, but en par for the course. Sometimes you have to learn the lessons the hard way.

I did manage to stop indulging in self-pity and get off my butt and actually do something in the yard. The biggest problem I have is raking leaves. I don't mind mowing the lawn or hauling firewood or even hand tilling the garden, but man, raking leaves really gets me down. There are so many. I did come up with a middle-ground solution.

I simply mow the lawn. This works because my goal is to get the leaves onto the garden as fertilizer, and they say to mulch them up for better decomposition. Unfortunately, my plan, kind of like all my plans, worked much better in theory than in practice. Because leaves are so airy, I could only make a couple of passes before the bag was full. Literally five minutes, max, and then I had to empty the bag. Completely unacceptable.

I was about to rake the whole damn yard when I had yet another idea. Starting in the middle, I made an outward concentric circle, mulching the leaves and distributing them to the periphery of the yard. By the end, I was able to clear the grass and get the leaves to nourish the trees. It isn't a perfect solution, but it worked, and it sure as hell beat raking. I understand why people use blowers, it makes perfect sense.

I can do a bit of raking under the oak tree w/swing and collect enough leaves to make a substantial leaf pile for the kids and then use it to feed the garden, so it works out beautifully. I hate to admit it, but I was sort of proud of myself for not only finding a solution, but for just the simple of fact of dealing with it.

We'll see how today goes with the manure. Until then, thanks for reading.