Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Tip toe through the Maples

We've had more rain this year than in the previous year or two (since being in our house) and as a result, we have a new problem:


My lawn is now a rainforest of mini maple trees.


I kid you not. I cannot walk to the back shed without counting at least 15 maple saplings in the grass.

The concept of "Reforestation" takes on new meaning when you have 5-6 maple saplings growing out of a crack of your wooden deck.

Spousie wanted to replant the trees, didn't like it when I would just pull them up. Spousie is now over it. We're going to try to save a few that have grown the most and are the strongest, and hopefully the rest will dry out with the weather.

Just be careful as you "Tip toe, through the Maples!"

Friday, June 4, 2010

Happy Graduation Days!

On this day, June 4, several years ago I graduated from High School. I spoke at our graduation ceremony. I spoke from my heart, but there is one thing I wanted to say and didn't.


"Don't be an Ethan Frome*. The world is so much bigger than [the city we graduated from]. Go out, explore and see it."


I've been very blessed to have done that. I've visited other countries, been able to travel to all corners of the United States, and really see a lot of variety. And I love it!


I remember the chant we repeated so often our senior year of high school. It simply was the year of our graduation. I remember at the end of Graduation Day feeling a bit scared, uncertain. This year that I had been chanting about, the event that I had been anticipating had come and gone. Now what was I supposed to do?


I wasn't quite certain, but I was filled with expectations: attending college, going on a mission, getting married, starting a family. All of these were big scary intimidating things.


Now, more than a decade later, my life is very different. I don't have a list of expectations for myself. The world is wide open for me to explore, and that is what I'm doing. I'm gardening, taking yoga classes, as well as learning TV filming and production. At some point, I hope to add sewing and more to my mix of learning and exploration.


At this point in time I've got a wide open sea, and my own personal star(s) to sail by. I trust myself much more these days. I know I'll get to where I want to be, and where I want to be and what I want to accomplish will be of my own choosing, not something others expect of me.


Happy sailing! Good luck new Graduates! May you learn to trust yourself.



*Ethan Frome was a book we had to read in English; I hated the ending.