One day in the midst of considering how to make my home, property and myself more inviting, how to be a good steward of my land, how to increase my physical activity, the planets must have aligned and I received a letter from the city. Letters from the city are never good news. Often they remind me of something I know that needs to be done, but I haven’t gotten around to. This letter was different. The city had bought a new fire truck that was 2 feet taller than the current ordnance allowed the trees to hang over the street. In other words, they can’t get the truck down most of the older streets. They asked us to trim our trees as soon as we could. Working on my property became my next project. I started out to just trim at the street, but once I started clearing, I couldn’t stop. Most everyday I try to spend some time working on the land. As I cleared the overgrowth, I also started learning about my life.

 

People ask me how far I am going with this clearing project. I don’t know. Maybe it is until I can’t clear anything else. Maybe it will be until it is just too hot. I will know when it is enough for a while.

 

 

You would think that this would be a project without supervision. I don't think you can do anything without supervision. Rusty, the cat, who believes he owns the property is my supervisor. He always near, sometimes too close to the street for me. He listens to all the sounds, checks how the breeze is moving leaves, and often disappears into the forest. Amazingly, the moment I stop for a break he pops out of the woods.

 

(time frame June)