We Keep Going

It's September 2021. 

Yes, this feels like a war journal, because basically, it is. We sat out the winter, mostly. When spring came, Ian and I were chomping at the bit. We launched ourselves at the house, plan in hand, ready to roll. And we did make some progress. Until the "Third Wave" of Covid happened in Nova Scotia. We were all being asked to stay in place and only leave our homes for necessities. For weeks. 

I discussed this with Ian. I was sure there wasn't a legal restriction on travel inside the municipality, but The Powers That Be were using very strong language discouraging it. Even going so far as to scold and demonize cottage owners specifically. We decided to stay put until the travel bans were over. This cost us quite a few weeks of work in good weather. 

Finally, the restrictions lifted and we got back to work. Throughout this time we were also both taking time to get vaccinated (and post-vax recovery), I had a call-back on a mammogram, insurance threatened to cancel the policy, pretty much all kinds of barbed wire we didn't need. 

We kept going. 

By the time we got back to Loon Lane, the grass was long, and the dirty fill (AKA clean topsoil) I ordered the year before had sprouted into a meadow. It was a very beautiful meadow, but pasture nonetheless. We both sort of sat down, in shared defeat, and looked at it. 

It's too much, we can't do it. I wanted to bring in hired help.

Ian stood up. He was sure he could handle it. So with a new mower (old one had died, of course, because, of course). He did. And he did. 

The thing you need to know about Ian is that as a child, he was quick to give up on things that pushed back. Whether swimming, riding a bike, soccer, skating, on and on. 

When we first bought the new mower I left him with it for a while to figure it out. He came in frustrated about half an hour later, wanting me to have a look. He couldn't figure out how the clippings bag was supposed to mount. I just said, "Go ahead and mow without it." 

It's now a few months since that day. He has weeded, dug, planted (trees, shrubs, and perennials), learned about plants, used mulch, weed barrier, become a bit of a landscape designer, but most importantly; he never ever gave up or gave in. 

Last week he was mowing and I glanced out when I noticed him in the front yard. He was dumping grass clippings out of the bag he had figured out how to attach to the mower.

We are in the home stretch now. So just a few more posts until Loon Lane gets listed for sale.

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