May 10 – “Nature attack”

Chris and I did some work out in the back yard yesterday.  She was putting mulch in the flower beds.  Guess she read somewhere that all you have to do to keep out weeds is put some newspapers down and cover it with mulch.  Guess those pesky weeds don’t like to read.  Problem was, about an hour after she finished she went outside and discovered that the dogs apparently do like to read.  They had uncovered the newspapers and strewn them all over the yard.  Just being helpful, I’m sure. 

I drew tree trimming duty.  I have a Brazilian pepper tree that I have been working on keeping shaped up.  It is actually in the vacant lot next door, but it is right up next to our fence, so I wanted to develop it into a bit of a shade tree.  Problem is that it is also right under the wires that run from the telephone/electrical pole to our house.  If the tree gets too tall it will obstruct the wires.  That’s been a challenge.  Of course said pole is doing its best to fall over right now, and the electric company has put it on the back burner since they installed their so called “temporary fix.”  Chris picked a point and measured its distance from the neighbor’s wood fence.  Maybe if we can give them some evidence that it is leaning more, then they will accelerate plans to replace it. 

Speaking of the vacant lot, I also attacked some of the trees over there.  One encroaches on our yard regularly, one is a random bush that I keep trimmed, and the other two are just two gigantic weeds that have grown into trees.  They probably have a name, and they are probably real trees of some kind, but I don’t remember them being there before the hurricane.  They don’t seem to have much of a canopy for providing shade or I would welcome their presence.  Ah, the plans we have had for that property.  It would great if we could buy it, but as far as we can tell, there is still no clear title. 

In honor of Betty Head, I did get the oleander bush over there free from the clutches of the evil demon devil weed that was wrapped around it.  I certainly didn’t get the nastiness eradicated completely, but for the time being the oleander can catch its breath.  I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that people pay good money for that weed in nurseries.  Anyone that wants it can come dig some up for free.  It is impossible to completely kill it.  It always lurks just under the surface, waiting for its chance to emerge and slowly consume its host.  Sounds like a bad sci-fi movie.  Or … sin.

Genesis 4:7 says, “If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it."

Father, when it feels like sin has slowly crept in and wrapped itself around every fiber of our being … help.  Amen.