Spring's Work
Twigs, branches, leaves, last year's grass. The end of a rake may seem an unusual place to spend Easter Sunday afternoon, but the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and the place needed attention, so there we were. This is our fifth spring here and every one has found us doing more improvement to the five acre landscape. It's amazing the betterment that can happen with simple trimming and a rake (and the hauling away of trash found in what-used-to-be tall weeds).
And when all five in the family are working in the spring sun, making better what we've got, so much can be accomplished. There's something infinitely satisfying about taking a big bite out of the outside chore list, for sure. It's that, and more. Shoulder-to-shoulder work has a unique color of memories and moments that I'd not want to miss. To witness boys working like they're one year older, to hear their conversations now, to see them settled with a job well done - at the end of the day, it wasn't just the landscape that I admired.
Summer jobs are on the boys' horizon, and not just random jobs, but jobs they're excited about, that fit their temperments and interests; jobs that'll put tools in their belts; that'll take them from here to there. They may not see it yet, but making the bed, sweeping the floor, emptying trash, raking the leaves - the younger-year jobs are fastened, like links in a chain, to the first-paying jobs, to the next paying jobs, and on to the work of their lives. It's on days like this that I know they'll do just fine.
