Taking on the weeds...

Donning the summer hat...we Washingtonians pretend it's on it's way.

We get our yard ready...

We remember what it looked like last year...

and dream of summer.

Shawn, Gavin, Brayden and I have been working on the backyard, and front for that matter. The sun has shone a few days and we have tried to make the most of them. We have been weeding, we have been power spraying, mowing, weeding more. We have many locations for weeds...it is the one downfall of a big yard. We brought out the kids buckets, put up the watertable and we are ready. I dream of summer days, sitting on the back porch after a BBQ, drinking a glass of wine and just being. Everytime I look outside, I see hints it's getting closer. I also see the weeds. They haunt me.

I look at the pictures and I see a my backyard...flowers in bloom, sun shining down and looking as though everything is right with the world. It's what I envision for the days to come. But I know, in reality, I will sit on that back porch, enjoying life, when BAM...my eyes will fall on a weed. And once you see one weed, they are everywhere you look. It's a phenomenon I will never understand, but truly despise.

It reminds me of life. Things are going smoothly, the day has been good, then BAM...your eyes fall on a weed (or worse, someone points one out to you). This often taints my vision, until pretty soon, all I see is weeds. I don't notice the green grass, the flowers blooming, the sunshining...the good that is.
Instead of focusing in on the one weed, pulling it out and getting back to engaging in what is beautiful, the pessimist in me takes over. I sit back and get consumed with how many weeds there are and how much work I have before me. I no longer see my flowers.

This summer, I am going to make an effort to take the weeds on, one weed at a time. Figuratively and literally. I am going to pull out the one or two that initially bothered me, enjoy the beauty there is before me, and take on the other weeds another day. My decision is made, because my yard and my life are too big to take on all the weeds at once.