I have re-defined what gardening means to me. Gardening is anything related to soil, plants, and grounds. It now encompasses all yard work or work in the yard.

I am not lying to myself anymore. Why is mowing the lawn a chore and puttering about, playing with the plants pleasure? They are tied together as one. Each influences the other.

I am not a mower of grass. I am not a gardener. I am a steward of this land. It is where I live. I am responsible for what lives here and what dies.

That includes the wildlife that lives here too. I will kill a roach or a rat without much hesitation, but accidentally walk into a spider’s web and I’m apologizing.

Some are born and some are dying is what Johnny Cash sang .

Other stuff:

I finally got back to studying for my license. I rode my bike. I did 100 squats. What is dawning on me is that it is all a mental game. The physical world is uncomfortable and will only get worse. That thing that drove me through the physical pain and effort of the past stills lives. The challenge is the same today as it was then. It doesn’t matter that I am older as I still am spirit. We have challenging days ahead but if I want to give my best each and every time I step on that ice surface, then I must prepare.

Until tomorrow.

Oops I missed yesterday. And I slept in today until 06:00. THe waking up thing is harder than I expected, but there is still plenty of time.

I seem to have a handle on the basics of the behavior modification. Follow through has always been challenging for me. A couple of more weeks and they should be almost rote.

The exotic plant removal continued this morning under a somewhat grey sky. It rained and everything was wet, a perfect excuse to stay inside. But tomorrow is garbage day and that can needs to be full. There remains about three possibly four cans of plant material to remove.

Planting the my milkweed and various other cutting is so much easier now with using a store bought mix. It has freed me to go and get cutting from many plants. The beautyberry for instance has a flush of new growth and because it’s a native I want more. It is easier to make them than to buy them.

That reminds me about the poison ivy I want to go and get so that I can have one of those too.

The TV room has a new ceiling fan. I installed it today with only one hiccup. There was only one screw in the junction box when there should have been two. Brother. A quick trip to Wilson-Hart took care of that. They are a mom and pop Ace hardware with that old timey hardware store smell. You walk in find the guy tell him what you need and he gets it for you. It’s that kind of store.

A plan hatched to move along the studying for the Real Estate test. Running out of time on that one.

Well that’s about it. Just wanted to make sure I didn’t start a new trend of not coming here.

Man am I testy. I was awake to see Dale Jr win his second Daytona 500 and I woke up at 05:30 before the birds. Up and moving on about five hours of sleep with a long list of tasks today has been tough. Oh and then there are the five children here.

I did most of what was necessary and made sure to do the bike ride, squats, green tea, 2L of water and some gardening. And now I find myself at the keyboard writing this out.

I am tired so it’s an earlier bedtime for all in this house. Until tomorrow.

The 2014 Daytona 500 is currently in a rain delay so I wanted to knock this out.

Well I slept in this morning if 07:30 counts as sleeping in. I was wiped out from all of the stuff I did yesterday and the longer than normal fire we had last night. Speaking of last night we had a tag team effort of sorts. The cats were hunting a rat and then seemed to lose interest. Nobody was paying much attention and then Nike started her hunting thing she does only she was by my desk. Moments later she was really keyed into something in the kitchen. I pulled a cooler out of her way. She kicked into frenzy mode and I heard the familiar squeaking of a distressed rat. That rodent had come into the house! Nike killed it quickly and then carried it outside and set it down next to Yane’. What a gift.

There were three more Monarchs today, and it was reported that we have fifteen caterpillars. One of the butterflies flew to the side yard. What I saw truly surprised me. A pineapple is growing in one of my very neglected container pineapple plants.

Well I want this to be brief so I’ll end it here. Tomorrow it’s back to the journey starting with a 05:30 wake up.

Today has been a blur. Having had my coffee at 06:15 and my Bible reading behind me, Taylor and I headed out to run the Saturday morning errands. They needed to be expedited as there was a DIY brake job on my morning schedule.

You heard that right, it was on my schedule. Scheduling and setting reminders is a behavior that I am willing to become second nature. A little of planning and actually doing the task allows me to get an enormous freedom from the clutter of procrastination.

Well the brakes took three hours to finish. Working on older cars is always an adventure. It always feels great to take apart a part of a car and put it back together. Things only work one way is a truth I learned on my 1972 VW Westfalia. It has served me well.

I like the way this picture turned out. You can check out more pictures on my Google+ post about it.

Three days into my journey my legs are burning and I am tired. It is that good kind of tired however, a well earned tired. There are some challenges as to be expected. the surprise brake job comes to mind. The combination of waking up earlier each day and planning my day prepares me to handle it.

Well I have to go and finish cooking dinner. We are still outside on the patio because the stove situation. And there is still some tinder and kindling to prepare. I am not missing my weekly backyard campfire and A Prairie Home Companion. I think there is a cold Sierra Nevada with my name on it too.

Well my legs were sore today and it felt great. Yesterday I spent twelve minutes on my ergometer and did some squats. This journey is about small changes; lots of small changes.

Riding the bike and doing squats were exercises I thrived on when I played ice hockey. God didn’t bless me with strong arms, but He did give me powerful legs. Sadly they have become a bit flabby over the past decade or so.

Adding some movement to my daily routine is vital if I am to live. Anatomy class taught me that the muscles in our lower bodies account for about two-thirds of our muscle mass. The very simple idea for my is to use my glutes and legs to get back into movement. This is the beginning, a baseline.

Eclose. Emergence. Change.

Change is needed. I need to change. This journey is still in its nascent stages but something wonderful happened today. Waking up early is something working on and this morning I created the time to watch a Hibiscus open,

be there as a  Monarch butterflies eclosed,

and even did a bit of gardening.

I also managed to get my Bible reading in. Proverbs 2 as far as I can tell is about keeping good company so that we may be lifted up. Strangely enough I ran into my brother-in-law at the Home Depot this morning. He is a better man than I, just the type I need to spend more time with.

Today was a good day.

I am on a journey.

For the next forty-five days I am going bootcamp into my forty-fifth year on this rock. I have not always made the best decisions and find myself today smack in my mid-life crisis.

There really isn’t much to show for given the time I’ve been blessed to have. Yes there is my wife and our five children, but that is all. There is no house, no wealth, and no vacations, ever.

I am on a journey however away from all of that. I have a plan and as basic and simple as it is as of today, it is a plan. How do I know that I will stick to it? I mean my track record isn’t that great.  Forty-five. 45.

Forty-five is a place my Dad never saw so I am headed towards an un-precedented land. At forty-five, over-weight, in debt,and no career there is plenty here to cause those sleepless nights I have endured. There is much I want to do the next forty-five days and so I have chosen to simply list them.

The following list is a working draft and will change.

• Drink less beer
• Drink more green tea
• drink 2L water daily
• Eat more salads
• 12 minute bike rides daily
• Daily Bible reading starting with Proverbs
• Acquire my Florida Real Estate License
• Do the 30 day squat challenge (power skating)
• Wake up at 05:00 daily
• Play more chess
• Be nicer to the dogs
• Garden 30 minutes four days a week
• Spend better time with Yane’
• Re-read Illusions

That’ll keep me busy for now

Taken Nov, 5 2013