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Saturday, December 13, 2014

"Sea"




I wrote a post this morning when I was fresh as a daisy and eager for the day.  Now I’m trying to work up energy to take a bath.  The earlier post just doesn’t feel as pertinent any more.

The original idea had to do with the sea of leaves in my backyard with hopes that my brother Pete would blow them away.  That didn’t happen.  He started the lawnmower and set me to mulching the damned things while I cursed my younger self for teaching him about self-sufficiency and female empowerment.  My hands are bruised from the stupid mower and I worked up a sweat while freezing to death.  You wouldn’t know it from these photos, but it’s a big backyard.  Mulching took hours.  I’m thinking of letting the back 40 reforest.

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Peter came over with his bud Dave to take down a couple of trees.  One was dead, the other growing way too enthusiastically too close to the house.  The gas company came out and ripped up the front of my yard fixing gas leaks recently.  I’m not sure if the gas leaks killed the birch tree and nearly killed a rhododendron, but any way you look at it, my front yard is a mess.  My house looks blank without the trees.

This is where I think I ought to be good at landscaping, but I’m not.  Just because I’m an artist with some creative ability doesn’t mean I’m good at this.  My goals are simple enough.  I want the birds to hop around in shrubs or trees just outside my windows.  If the replacement flora provides food for me and/or birds, even better, and pretty flowers, best yet.  Oh yeah, and no weeding.  I want a perpetual garden without effort.

The front yard is tiny, so I think this should all be possible, or it would be possible if I knew how to put it together.  I suppose that’s why somebody planted rhododendrons and pachysandra there in the first place.

I’ve been in this house a long time.  It was my 5-year plan to get $ together enough to buy a real house.  I was renting a 1-bedroom apartment in a haunted Willoughby house for $350/mo when I decided I might as well pay a mortgage and have something to show for it after a while.

5 years came and went, but I was comfortable.  I moved to another state for a while and let some friends move in.  I came back when I got divorced and was really glad to have a home to come back to, especially when I hear what other people pay for mortgages and property taxes.

I got laid off the day the realtor gave me the keys, and spent the first day in my house crying in the basement because I didn’t know how I’d be able to keep it.  Hard work, sacrifice, and a lot of scrimping, but I kept it.  Now I own it.  The letter came from the bank one day, and I felt prouder than you can imagine.

I suppose this post is a stretch for “sea”, but whether it’s a sea of leaves or a sea of debt, or any other kinds of seas, this is my little bit of world where I am the queen of my universe.  I could point out that I’m 2 miles from Lake Erie as the crow flies, and that’s an inland sea.

Peter wouldn’t cooperate with blog photos today, but thanks to him and Dave today!!  BTW, both Dave and Pete are available and have useful skills.  Any takers?

8 comments:

  1. Your hard work has paid off Linda. What an achievement to own your own property despite the journey you had to take to get there...feel proud. Now that the dead wood has gone you have a blank canvas for your outdoor space...a rare thing...enjoy it! Yes please to Dave and Pete but can they swim across the pond to get here...hmmm...might be an issue. Enjoy the festive period....I hope you can get them to put up some lights for you and a big Christmas tree.Ho Ho Ho xx

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    1. I'm thinking you've got me beat on Christmas and landscaping Jane! Pete told me to plant rose bushes and be done with it, but I think I'll see what else is out there first. I'll tell Pete to start swimming :)

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  2. I have such an affinity for the sea. But I haven't done that i.f. theme yet. For shame! I'm glad this home is ghost free. Unless it was a rich ghost. Who could help with the bills!

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    1. I don't see any rich ghosts around. It'd be nice if one told me where to dig in the yard though!

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  3. Funny. About the rich ghost etc. There's a truly haunted house around here, if I am to believe a number of people who have seen and expereinced wierd stuff in it, and I do believe them. I know of someone else who lives in a haunted house. A priest exorcised it (don't know if that's the right word) and everything left except a poltergeist that bangs around sometimes and hides keys and things like that. If it was in my house I'd probably never know it. My kids bang around plenty and I would just assume I had lost the keys by myself. Your house is cute. I know what you mean about being the queen of it. And I'll bet you have better latent landscaping skills than you think. Once you get started you might just get addicted to it. Digging in the dirt is so healing and nourishing--for me anyway.

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  4. I like digging in the ground but I lose track of the greater plan when it comes to landscaping. I'm better with vegetables that grow in straight lines. But at least I don't have a poltergeist!

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  5. You don't need to sail the seven seas to enjoy the sea of debt left behind. It's great to own your own house. Even if the garden doesn't always look as you want it to be. Enjoy the holidays coming up!

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  6. The sea of debt would make for an interesting vintage photo, wouldn't it? Kind of like looking at our earlier selves without the baby teeth in school pictures. Happy holidays to you too Otto!

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