Yard Goals and Suffering

Talk about a total bummer. I still have a load of raking to do that was leftover from last year, and believe me, it’s a lot. I hate to be a whiner (that doesn’t seem to stop me), but out of all the duties I have, raking is without question my least favorite. Even moving 8 cords of wood by wheelbarrow beats raking, and it’s a lot more work. If I put my mind to it, I could get all the raking done in one day, whereas moving all that wood takes weeks.

The one bright spot about raking is the kids can help, and are usually more than happy to assist, so that’s really nice. But for the most part, I’m on my own, and it’s a drag. I don’t know why I have such a mental block about it, it’s not that big a deal, and it’s a hell of my own creation.

Which brings me to my next revelation, and that’s the mental aspect of obligations that I don’t like. I figured that the leaves have to be cleaned up, and it’s something that I’m going to have to deal with every year, so as much as I like to whine about it, moaning isn’t going to get the job done. This begs the question: is there a way to accomplish this and maintain mental stability, or at least not be such a big baby about it?

I have similar pangs of misery when I look at the cut blocks of wood that need to moved before splitting. 8 cords of wood makes a pretty substantial pile, and it requires about 100 trips with a wheelbarrow. Needless to say, it doesn’t leave me feeling all warm and fuzzy, but I manage to get it done by chipping away at the stone. I know in my mind I can’t get it done in one day, so I approach it as such. The raking is more attainable, so maybe that’s why I get so flustered.

With this in mind, I need to just do a little bit at a time, and then quit while I’m ahead. I figure 30 minutes a day for about a week should get a brunt of the work done, then I can just let the wind blow the rest into the woods.

Just kidding... sort of. Until the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to lamppost for the pic.