As usual, I took a vacation week off of work during the holidays, this time, the week before Christmas. And, as usual, it became a working vacation. That is not bad thing. It can be therapeutic working with your hands and getting long overdue chores "done and done".
This year, we decided to finish a project of sprucing up the property that abuts the street. Robin had dug up much of the dirt one year previously, and I had finished a few weeks ago. Now, with a 4" depression between the sidewalk and the curb, it was time to line the "hole" with weed cloth and fill it with gravel.
We ordered three yards of rock, it was delivered as scheduled and I started the task of filling the wheelbarrow and filling the hole. It took me most of the day. After leveling, cleaning and packing the gravel, I donned my knee-pads and trimmed the weed cloth. Now this doesn't sound like much, but it was for me. I'm not a youngster any more....I felt it, but it looks great! It was worth the effort.
There was still one yard of gravel left over so I spent the next couple of days finishing up other half-finished areas that also needed the gravel. By the third day I was spent, but not done.
There was an area I had installed pavers out front that had been undermined by gophers. The property connects with the neighbor's driveway entry at the street. When they were run over by the neighbor's car they "collapsed" an inch or two and looked terrible. The task was to pull them up, expose the sand and use the left-over gravel to fill the depression.
I was tired, but determined. After a couple of hours into the work, my other neighbor was headed to his car with his granddaughter. We exchanged greetings and I continued working while he loaded his vehicle. Then I noticed his granddaughter walking on the gravel I had laid down a couple days prior. She looked down at her feet and seemed to measure her little steps one after the other as she walked.
Now this little one is just about as sweet as any little one I have ever encountered. Robin and I have both listened her singing next door in her pure tones of sincerity. The innocence of her voice floats right into your ears, and into your heart. Children just have that gift I suppose.
This moment wasn't any different. I was sitting on some of the finished pavers taking a breather when I looked up at the little girl. It was time for her to go and she was called to by her grandfather. Before she left she made eye contact with me and exclaimed in her biggest voice "this is very good work"! (speaking of the laid down gravel) Her little voice with all its innocence and fervor washed over me like a baptism of pure energy. I said "thank you" and with that she left.
I was still tired, but inspired. Her uninhibited gesture of kind words went a very long way for me that morning....and stays with me still. The tasks are done (for now) and the front of the property looks a whole bunch better. Even with that accomplishment, its those kind words that made all of that work even more worthwhile.
This year, we decided to finish a project of sprucing up the property that abuts the street. Robin had dug up much of the dirt one year previously, and I had finished a few weeks ago. Now, with a 4" depression between the sidewalk and the curb, it was time to line the "hole" with weed cloth and fill it with gravel.
We ordered three yards of rock, it was delivered as scheduled and I started the task of filling the wheelbarrow and filling the hole. It took me most of the day. After leveling, cleaning and packing the gravel, I donned my knee-pads and trimmed the weed cloth. Now this doesn't sound like much, but it was for me. I'm not a youngster any more....I felt it, but it looks great! It was worth the effort.
There was still one yard of gravel left over so I spent the next couple of days finishing up other half-finished areas that also needed the gravel. By the third day I was spent, but not done.
There was an area I had installed pavers out front that had been undermined by gophers. The property connects with the neighbor's driveway entry at the street. When they were run over by the neighbor's car they "collapsed" an inch or two and looked terrible. The task was to pull them up, expose the sand and use the left-over gravel to fill the depression.
I was tired, but determined. After a couple of hours into the work, my other neighbor was headed to his car with his granddaughter. We exchanged greetings and I continued working while he loaded his vehicle. Then I noticed his granddaughter walking on the gravel I had laid down a couple days prior. She looked down at her feet and seemed to measure her little steps one after the other as she walked.
Now this little one is just about as sweet as any little one I have ever encountered. Robin and I have both listened her singing next door in her pure tones of sincerity. The innocence of her voice floats right into your ears, and into your heart. Children just have that gift I suppose.
This moment wasn't any different. I was sitting on some of the finished pavers taking a breather when I looked up at the little girl. It was time for her to go and she was called to by her grandfather. Before she left she made eye contact with me and exclaimed in her biggest voice "this is very good work"! (speaking of the laid down gravel) Her little voice with all its innocence and fervor washed over me like a baptism of pure energy. I said "thank you" and with that she left.
I was still tired, but inspired. Her uninhibited gesture of kind words went a very long way for me that morning....and stays with me still. The tasks are done (for now) and the front of the property looks a whole bunch better. Even with that accomplishment, its those kind words that made all of that work even more worthwhile.
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