Mr. FixIt and Ben rode the light rail train to Downtown Denver yesterday. They walked around Union Station then took the shuttle bus down to the end of the 16th Street Mall and moseyed back to the station. They stopped for lunch and, of course, they found a ton of people to talk to. I’ll have to say…Ben and Mr. FixIt are a lot alike. They’re both hard workers, they love to tinker and fix things, they both garden, they both are devoted family men, they both have the same great sense of humor, and they can talk to anybody about anything. I wish Colorado was closer to West Virginia so we could spend more time with our wonderful family.
I know it’s only September, but I gave Daughter #2 and her wife their Christmas present early this year. And, it’s going to have to count for NEXT year’s, too. They work hard and do the best they can to stay up with things around the house. But a series of events occurred in the last year that got them behind in their lawn work.
First, their mower broke. It’s not easy to find a lawn mower repair shop anymore and the one they found was closed. They are not mechanically inclined. So they used their weed eater…which was her grandpa’s old one from twenty years ago. It didn’t work well…then it didn’t work at all. At the same time, their sprinkler stopped working. There was covid and lockdowns and finding a new job and all their energy went to survival.
They got the sprinkler fixed, but the weeds had a huge head start and the west is suffering a mega drought. I have never seen so many yards look this bad in Colorado. I paid close attention on the way home from her house and every block has dead and weed infested yards. In their defense…it never was a really nice lawn to begin with. I wondered why she was coming to me for visits instead of me going there. Then she confessed…she was embarrassed by the state of her yard. Bless her heart. I told her I could care less…I’m the last to be “judgy”.
I decided to go to Home Depot yesterday morning early and buy them a lawn mower and trimmer for their early Christmas presents. Her dad agreed to go halves. I was checking out when she called to say she was going to grab coffee and head over.
“You just hang out there, kiddo. I’m in the neighborhood and I’ve got something for you!”
I pulled up and unloaded the truck and I thought she was going to cry. She hugged me and thanked me profusely. And we spent the next few hours working alongside each other…mowing and weeding. We got the first half done yesterday before it got too hot and decided to get back to it this morning and finish. I’ll tell you what…that thing is really powerful for a battery mower.
You know…a well manicured yard is something we were manipulated into having when our fathers came home from the war and bought their first house in the suburbs. The sign of affluence was a cookie cutter house and a lawn fit for the Queen’s croquet party. It’s an enormous waste…time, money, and natural resources. We’re going to have to rethink the front yard because they aren’t making more water and the climate is changing drastically. Wars of the future won’t be fought over oil…they’ll be fought over food and water. It’s not such a big deal where we live in West Virginia. The idea of watering your lawn is foreign. But here in the West…something’s got to change.
Daughter #2 and I didn’t get to do these kinds of homey gardening things together when she was growing up. Her dad and I split up when she was just ten years old. Then it was shifting back and forth between houses. I just don’t remember working in the yard with her at all. But yesterday was fun. We chatted comfortably. When we were finished, we took our hot and dirty selves out for lunch at Wendy’s and sat in the shade to eat.
She has today off then heads back to work on Thursday. I have to say…this is one of the best visits we’ve ever had and I am so, so happy to spend such quality time with her. I’ll get to spend some time with Daughter #2 and her family over the coming weekend when we go see my brother for his 70th Birthday.
This mama’s heart is happy!
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“You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart.”
Psalm 104:14-15 ESV