Uglifying the yard: a work in progress

I usually show photos of our house and yard looking its best. So here's an alternate view. This is our house and yard (and shed-like garage) looking, well, less than handsome. (The flipped-over wading pool and abandoned sprinkler don't help).

These photos were taken soon after we cut down several trees in our backyard. I'll admit that I felt despairing as I assessed the mess. I miss those trees. Taking them down is all part of a long-term plan to bring more sunshine into certain areas of the yard--and next summer, more vegetables. But short-term, let's just say it looks ugly. The rusty garage is exposed. (Weren't we going to cover that garage with siding?? It was at the top of our to-do list when we bought the house eight years ago. Funny how priorities change). The house itself looks sort of forlorn and crumbling, an old, shambling, rambling kind of house, like the one I imagine for Meg's family in the children's classic, A Wrinkle in Time. Which isn't so bad, really; it's just that I never noticed before.

The photo above, and the next one, were taken a few days later, when I was feeling better about the general state of our backyard affairs. In the interim, Kevin worked really hard to clean the yard. Either things really do look better, or I just think they do. Don't tell me which it is, please.

Owning a house means participating in a perpetual work in progress. It's very metaphorical. All the changing, shape-shifting, rearranging, and repairing. You can look at this yard and see who we are as parents, as a family, guess the ages of our children, get an understanding of our priorities, our finances, and our ability to put into action our intentions.

I like where we're at. But we're never done.

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