June 1 – “Silly me”

Started the day with an early morning fire department call to a victim scene in Sea Isle.  The police chaplain was there as well, so rather than inundate the family with strangers, I let him handle the situation.  I appreciated our fire guys work at the scene, of course, but also their concern for the family and what they have to deal with now.  It’s about more than putting out fires, you know.  Nice job caring, guys.

Back at home I entered into my “day off” by getting back to work on backyard fence demolition.  I finally got out all of the fencing part up to the trunk of the wisteria.  There are still some pieces twisted and interlocked and even embedded in the trunk, but I think they might just have to stay there.  The next step is to dig up the final two metal posts and either hammer down the fence pieces sticking up out of the buried concrete or, if absolutely necessary, dig up the rest of the strips of buried concrete.  The last is certainly not my favorite option.  And finally we need to put up the trellis posts and crossbars so the branches will have something to hang on and attach to other than the back fence.  

I thought for a fleeting moment that the trellis would be the last thing for our backyard redevelopment.  Silly me.  I forgot a few things we had talked about.  Moving a tree from a side flower bed to one corner of the yard.  Renting a stump grinder (or hiring one) to complete removal of the palm tree.  Drastically trimming the two big trees on the east side of the house that are actually in my neighbor’s yard.  I saw her the other day and she said it would be perfectly fine for us to get that done.  That’s one chore that is certainly on my hurricane preparedness list.   

So … yardwork for a responsible homeowner is never done.  Sigh …

1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”

Father, thank you for the fire fighters and police officers who responded to that tough call.  Grant them peace as they process their roles in the situation.  Please be with the family as they go through a very difficult time.  Amen.