Trimming Some Bush

Let's face it - that overgrown feeling can get overwhelming. It's hard to find visual pleasure and relax. It might be tempting to let it go and bask in the wild side of life, but ultimately, maintenance is a must. Yup, after months - no years - of neglect, Rex and I trimmed the bushes in front of the cabin.

Like familiar arguments, the roots of this vegetation ran deep. Some branches from the neighbor's yard had thorns that cut into our new gloves. Reminicent of some ex-boyfriends, a few had little pricks.

There were some gnarly junipers to contend with, as well as some daunting trees that swayed hazordously close to our kitchen windows. Their branches were thick and unruly - a real pain in the Aspen.

We knew it wouldn't be a simple job, but we felt a bit defeated in the beginning. His job: Chain sawing the thick branches. My job: Bagging the debris. 12 Hefty garbage bags later, we still hadn't reached the earth. Based on our three hours of work, we estimated it would take 30 hours to complete this job.

Part of us wants to hire someone to come in and deal with the man power/monotony of this task. After all, we could be fishing on the lake (his idea) or strolling through the town shops (my idea).

But there's a price to pay for having someone else do the labor. Not only would we literally have to shell out two thousand dollars, but we wouldn't have the memories, let alone the satisfaction, that comes with working together to make something beautiful.

"Hey, babe, want me to save these stumps for firewood?" I called to Rex, who was busy raking the entry way. "Great idea," he shouted back. "Stick it in one pile and I'll separate the dry from the wet."

"I thought you liked stuff wet," I joked.

"Nah... it's more explosive with some friction."

"Speaking of, wanna screw?" I asked, walking over to him with a large metal fastener I found buried beneath a mound of pinecones.

"No thanks. I prefer one of these jobs ," he shot back, picking up his leaf blower.

Last night, despite all the double entendre we had with our yard duties, there was no hanky panky. Our tired bodies crashed at 10PM.

Perhaps this winter, as we load the fireplace up with the wood we chopped yesterday, we'll recall a hot summer day in June... when we worked together to create a beautiful entry way to our cabin... and we'll love our way into the winter season.

Photo of Jesse Metcalf found here.

Posted by Andrea Frazer


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