Lessons

A creek after a good rain.

My little tifway yard is smooth as glass and green. Big hats off to constant rain and cloudy days. It will be more of a struggle when the sun starts beating down and the rain stops. It will help when the Mexican plum we planted begins to mature and provides a bit of shade. It’s looking good so far, but shade duty is a ways off. The two pink turks caps at the little tree’s side, meanwhile, are flourishing. No shade. Just flowers.

I should have planted a tree over there long ago, but that’s way down the list of things I should have done. And that list is right behind the list of things I should have never done. Like I should never have covered the area that is now the tifway yard with decomposed granite, thinking it would make for a maintenance free area. Basically, I created a ground level oven and weeds still grew. Luckily, I recovered from that mistake.

I will avoid segueing into a list of mistakes I’ve made from which I’ve yet to recover. The list would be too long, and onerous to read. Basically, it’s a private reference, a guidebook of sorts. Although, it’s gotten long enough now, that mostly I feel that staying home with a good book is a pretty good way to stay out of trouble, that and keeping my mouth shut. Having an opinion is one thing, sharing it quite another. I still have a hard time remembering the latter is where trouble lies. Oh, well. I suppose I should be happy I’m still alive and have things to learn, because there’s only one way to graduate from the school of life.

John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver’s Tale