to be poor and have trees (and mulch)

 I miss my old self, the one that was excited about writing, the one that noted everything I did and saw during the day so that I could spin it out into a tale. This post is a forced compilation of words as I'm wondering if pushing on no matter how I feel will get me to the end faster?

Yesterday and today we pulled down the old pool. It fought us with rusty screws and stubborn metal. Carm had to muscle sections apart, I merely stood there, hand out to collect the screws and nuts and bolts. After the skeleton was torn apart and piled in a neat pile, Carm shoveled off the old pavers that were buried in 21 years of soil, while I struggled with the heavy wheelbarrow to dump the dirt over by the old manure pile. Then we rolled up the sides, sharp jagged edges threatening our legs as we stumbled to the barn. Those pavers were still sitting around the ghostly outline of the pool and had to be piled up by the garage. I say up because it is up a slope worth 1/2 flight of stairs for each trip. I lugged them one by one - Carm piled 10 at a time in the wheelbarrow.

So now all that is left is the liner (the one we replaced last year) laying flat on the ground - kept there to keep the weeds from growing up while we wait for the new pool. The space that it took looks small now. There is a pile of stuff on the grass, the skeleton of the old pool. It is remarkably small. The rolls of aluminum (Carm cut it into 3 sections) the formed the side is neatly tucked into the barn.

While we were in the thick of it  yesterday I heard a big truck in the laneway and was thrilled to see that it was Samson tree cutters to bring down that tricky big tree that towers over the truck (bird poop) and threatens the camper with pointy branches. Working in a bucket, Jason had that tree down in less than 90 minutes. His ground workers fed branch after branch into the chipper so not only do we have the tree gone, we have scads of mulch.

I helped a bit, but Carm did the lion's share of mulching the front flower beds. The white chips are bright, but are an improvement over the bare dirt. And the price was right. We still have a giant pile of woodchips that we'll have to move to a more convenient spot. Unfortunately it is supposed to rain the next few days so the chips will get heavier… 

We are showered and changed and sitting limply on the sofa. Supper is a simple pasta dish.

But hey! That's enough work for now. Tomorrow we are taking a break and driving into town to pickup Spike's portrait. I'm really excited to see it in real life and hope I don't embarrass myself by crying.


“To be poor and be without trees, is to be the most starved human being in the world. To be poor and have trees, is to be completely rich in ways that money can never buy.” 
― Clarissa Pinkola Estés