Spring Break, 2014
I am tired, sore, and generally wrung out -- a somewhat less than optimal combination with which to face the end of Spring Break and the return to work. The reason for this is that despite my on-going attempts to avoid anything resembling actual labor, sometimes things simply must be done. In this case, my wife arranged events with the next-door neighbor (who used to be a contractor, and whose teenaged grandsons were visiting) and presented me with a fait accompli -- to whit, that this week the back fence was getting replaced. The things I do for marital harmony.
The fence really did need to be replaced. It's been gradually transitioning from merely dilapidated into purely symbolic for years, and a symbolic fence (especially one involving shards of rotted wood and the occasional loose nail) are not exactly what one needs with toddlers. I just would have put off the project for longer, preferably until the kids were teens themselves and therefore presumably capable of doing it for us.
Still, needs must, and so the four of us (my lady had kid-watch) spent five days tearing out and replacing about 60 running feet of fence. This involved destruction (the easy part, as the old the fence really was crumbling away to nothing), brick-laying (as a dog-deterrent and drainage-facilitation), strenuous negotiations concerning right-of-way with three different trees, one corner, eight new fence posts (post-hole diggers. Envision my joy), and a ridiculous amount of trash. Also, much exertion.
Meanwhile, because one massive project is never enough, my lady and I have also been shuffling the contents of several rooms. She would dearly like to travel, and since that's not currently feasible, making the house look different is an acceptable substitute. So what was the master bedroom is now the craft-and-book room, what was the upstairs sacrificial room full of miscellaneous stuff is now the master bedroom, and the stuff that was in the sacrificial room is now spread between the dining room and the new craft room, awaiting further sorting. This, too, involved much exertion.
It should also be noted that children do not become more calm and relaxed in the face of significant transitions like these; and that while Spring fence-building has the advantage of relatively moist dirt, it also involves Spring allergens. Both factors may have contributed to my current state. Horrifyingly enough, I am faced with the terrible prospect that going back to work may actually involve less work than did my vacation.
On the other hand, it's a damn fine fence, and my lady likes both it and the new room layout, and it does feel good occasionally to do heavy physical labor. Sometimes, the body needs to be worked. Occasionally. Say, once a decade or so.
The fence really did need to be replaced. It's been gradually transitioning from merely dilapidated into purely symbolic for years, and a symbolic fence (especially one involving shards of rotted wood and the occasional loose nail) are not exactly what one needs with toddlers. I just would have put off the project for longer, preferably until the kids were teens themselves and therefore presumably capable of doing it for us.
Still, needs must, and so the four of us (my lady had kid-watch) spent five days tearing out and replacing about 60 running feet of fence. This involved destruction (the easy part, as the old the fence really was crumbling away to nothing), brick-laying (as a dog-deterrent and drainage-facilitation), strenuous negotiations concerning right-of-way with three different trees, one corner, eight new fence posts (post-hole diggers. Envision my joy), and a ridiculous amount of trash. Also, much exertion.
Meanwhile, because one massive project is never enough, my lady and I have also been shuffling the contents of several rooms. She would dearly like to travel, and since that's not currently feasible, making the house look different is an acceptable substitute. So what was the master bedroom is now the craft-and-book room, what was the upstairs sacrificial room full of miscellaneous stuff is now the master bedroom, and the stuff that was in the sacrificial room is now spread between the dining room and the new craft room, awaiting further sorting. This, too, involved much exertion.
It should also be noted that children do not become more calm and relaxed in the face of significant transitions like these; and that while Spring fence-building has the advantage of relatively moist dirt, it also involves Spring allergens. Both factors may have contributed to my current state. Horrifyingly enough, I am faced with the terrible prospect that going back to work may actually involve less work than did my vacation.
On the other hand, it's a damn fine fence, and my lady likes both it and the new room layout, and it does feel good occasionally to do heavy physical labor. Sometimes, the body needs to be worked. Occasionally. Say, once a decade or so.