Control…

This week our new landscape crew started the spring cleanup. For the first time (ever), someone other than me is in control. And I must admit – it’s driving me a little crazy. To start, they tore down a large shed we had out back that was rotting. It was a 2-story 15′ X 20′ structure that was great for storage, but even better at blocking our view. It was going to be one of my last projects, but I just didn’t get to it last year (and it’s probably best to keep me off a ladder). I could say the storage will be missed, but, if I’m not caring for the yard anymore, I don’t really need all the equipment, right?

Our little Rye in front of what was the shed.

The crew did a great job, with not a nail to be found when they were done. I hate to say it, but they did it better than I would have… and in record time. Even with the fantastic results, it feels like I missed a punch on my Man Card punch card.

Next on the list was 10 yards of mulch that needed to be spread throughout the flower beds. It was delivered on Tuesday, and I really wanted it done by the following Monday because my perennials are starting to come up. Wednesday it rained. Thursday it rained. Friday it rained. Saturday morning it rained again, so I decided to start the project myself until I got a text saying they’d be there around noon. I had serious doubts it was going to get done that day, since it would have taken me a week to move all that mulch. To my absolute shock, they were done in two hours. One more punch missed on that card.

Fertilizer went down on Saturday as well. The grass is green and it won’t be long until that first cut. If I say I’m a control freak, this is where you can find the proof…

Ever since college, when KP started that landscape business, and I spent endless hours pushing a mower. He instilled on me how crucial straight lines were. For 10+ years, I wouldn’t let Amy mow the yard, not trusting her to leave lines a farmer would be proud of. I eventually relented and she took great pride in her mowing skills, though there were several occasions I would return only to have her tell me not to look at her lines. (Often I asked her if she’d been drinking, and those lines perpendicular to the house got her every time.)

I’m assuming the mowing starts next week. The crew won’t be able to use their big mowers because the fence I built will only accommodate up to a 30″ mower through the gate. Time will tell how their lines are (although I have complete faith they’ll be great). Amy is bummed she’s not being called upon to do it, so we’re keeping one of our old machines just so she can cut the grass during the peak season when we mow every other day.

They’re not getting through or over that fence.

Always wanting to be in control may be the hardest part of my diagnosis. I’ve been told what the end looks like for me and also told there’s nothing I can do about it. Being the stubborn horse’s ass I can be, I’ve never accepted this. From the very start, I never accepted what we’d been told. Research into modern medicine proved to be fruitless and heart- breaking, thus leading me to learn more from those thinking outside the box.

Eventually I found a regiment that made sense to me, and hey, I’m still here! And leaving a trail of baffled doctors in my wake. (I love my doctors and appreciate them very much. But I’m not hindered by scientific thinking or insurance companies, and none of them ever believed that my faith can move mountains.)

Spring is almost here, though it did snow on Wednesday. Daffodils are blooming like crazy and our first tulips bloomed today. It’s time for me to let go of the reins and trust in those I’ve contracted with to do a great job maintaining what I created. I’ve put my faith in God that he’s going to keep me around for a while. I’ll save a little of that faith for this great group of guys as well.

Thanks for hanging in there with me, even though my Man Card punch card may no longer be full.

Find joy wherever you can, then share it. Like the first flowers of spring… the smell of fresh cut grass… sleeping with the windows open… and the songs of birds returning from the south.

Have a great weekend.

God bless

Coach