Work Day

Yesterday we loaded up progeny+dog and headed out to Wise Road for the first time since we closed on the property. The day was spent mowing, weeding, and cutting back branches and weeds volunteer trees. Thank you to Clark for lending us your chainsaw. The previous owner hasn't done much land management in the past thirty years, and there is so much work to do that my mind boggles. After mowing a few acres of "lawn" around the house I am beginning to understand just how big 15 acres really is.

At the end of the day we were sweaty, covered with dirt, grass and bugs. We hardly scratched the surface of the work that needs to be done. But--the land around the house already feels more open, more hospitable. With lower branches removed from the trees around the house we can now see down the drive and catch glimpses across the valley. We mowed a path through the meadow above the wood, and this simple thing--the work of a few minutes--changed the upper meadow from an inhospitable wilderness into a parkland, a humane landscape, full of wildflowers and silence.