March 4 – “Down with the demon”

OK.  Backbreaking outdoor work.  Who knew there was so much to this Spring attack of the yardage.  Oh, wait.  I guess I did.  Chris starts it every year about this time. 

We started in the back yard once again.  Chris had moved to yet another of the flower beds back there.  My job was to remove the remains of a bush that we surmised hadn’t survived the Great Freeze of 2017 (Or did that happen in 2018?  Can’t remember details.  It was just cold).  As I clipped and trimmed more and more dead branches, it became evident.  It’s not dead yet.  There were plenty of leaves breaking through further down close to the roots.  So now we have the beginnings of a bush again. 

Next came the redistribution project.  We moved the toilet.  No, not the active duty one in the house.  This one was magically transformed into a planter by my Dad and Nathan many years ago.  It has occupied space in several corners of our back yard universe since then.  I’m pretty sure when we redo our wills that a line will read, “And to Nathan we leave the toilet and everything therein.”  Should get a laugh. 

Next project was to trim the wisteria.  It pretty much covers our back fence, so it gets unwieldy often.  We also had to cut out some of that dreaded invader, Brazilian pepper tree.  They spring up everywhere.  So does the dirty demon devil weed with thorns and the ability to wind itself around other plants like a python crushing the life out of its prey.  I don’t know its official botanical name, hence the demon designation.  And the battle cry: “Down with the demon.”

All of that took what was left of my energy.  Three days in a row of extreme physical exertion.  I haven’t done that since … well, since way back when we went hiking in the Big Bend National Park.  What’s that?  We were there when?  Last week?  Umm.  Well, anyway, we never made it to the front yard, so I didn’t get to use my power tool hedge clippers.  Some day.

After a not-long-enough recovery period, we headed into Texas to watch Jachin play in his opening game of the baseball season, a pre-season tournament.  To our surprise, he was the starting pitcher.  Wow.  That’s a Dallas Keukel-ish honor.  He did pretty well, too.  He held the bad guys to just one run in three innings before his pitch count caught up with him and his coach took him out.  They ended up winning the game 5-4.  Exciting stuff.  Oh, and we even picked up an extra crew member while there.  Nathan and April were shopping in Texas all day, so they brought Cailyn to the park so she could spend the night and go to church with us this morning.  That meant a quick trip to Whataburger on the way home.  The service there?  A whole other story.  I’ll just say we were finished eating and still had to stand in line while two other people harassed the manager before we ever got our drinks.  Oh, well.  Gave me something to sip on while watching the Duke-North Carolina basketball game. 

Psalms 36:6 says, “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep.  O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.”

Father, would you do some preserving of the boys and girls that are starting their Spring seasons, whether in baseball or soccer.  Amen.