Ah, Spring...

Spring....when a young man's heart turns to love and an old man's heart turns to finding a good lawn boy. I shouldn't say "lawn boy" now because there are very few "lawn boys" out there. Professional lawn care services rule the market now. I haven't seen a teenager mow a lawn in several years (with apologies to grandsons Andy and Sam who work their respective hineys off during the summer). I keep waiting for them to say, "Hey Papa, let us take care of that yard for you this year" but so far I haven't heard anything.

I have been out looking over the yard and now I'm depressed and overwhelmed. During our long cold spell this winter we lost over half of our shrubs, most of the lawn, and one huge live oak. Despite Debbie's promise that she wasn't going to work flower beds anymore (she made this claim last August), she spent yesterday afternoon buying up about a quarter of Calloway Nursery's inventory. I went to Calloway's with her and spent the time reminding her that we were through with yard work. All the while she was loading up the two-tiered cart I was pushing around. By the time the damage was done and I was loading it all into the back of my pickup, I knew the stage was set for another miserable summer in Texas. As the sun began to set in the west and the truck was unloaded, she announced that tomorrow, now today, would be spent digging up dead shrubbery and planting new. Its a never-ending cycle that always begins in the early spring and lasts until the temperature reaches into the high nineties.

Last year we talked about selling our home and buying a townhouse. We found a realtor we liked and started the process. As the days passed we realized that even though the value of our house had sky-rocketed with a promise it would be sold in less than a week, we couldn't find any other area we liked as well as where we had spent the last twenty-five years. We gave up the idea of moving and vowed to each other (yes, vowed, not suggested, not considered....we vowed doggone it) we would do no more yard work. We would find a good lawn care service to take care of it all. Every time I reminded Debbie of our vow yesterday she replied, "Well you don't want to hire someone just to dig up shrubbery and replant do you?" Well, yes! I do want to hire someone to do that. I'm too old and out of shape for that nonsense. She just poo-pooed me and kept on loading up green stuff.

I'm waiting for her to finish her coffee now so we can get after it. It's entirely possible I won't survive the day. The last time I tried to work in the yard I stumbled and fell...broke three ribs. AND, when I did this Debbie said, "Well, this settles it! No more yard work for you!" What has changed in the last four weeks. It's a conundrum...

And to Andy and/or Sam, if you are reading this I will pay you DOUBLE what my grandpa used to pay me for mowing his lawn. It was a quarter...and my dad always made me give the quarter back.