Leaves

Another summer is rapidly coming to a close, and I am left with a wish list of yard and home projects just as long as when the summer started.

It is kind of depressing. This is the part where I whine about not having the time between covering and volunteering at events to get my personal to do list accomplished. Feel free to skip ahead a little bit if you have heard my pity-party spiel before.

Yeah, I could legitimately prioritize home projects over mixing up michelados at a concession stand on a rainy Saturday morning or take time to start on my “to be read” pile of books instead of doomscrolling bad videos on my phone in my down time.

The other day on the way to work I saw my first orange and red leaves of the season on the tree on the corner of Perkins St. and Second St. While I am just as excited as the next coffee junkie for the start of pumpkin spice season — admit it, while they may be among the most stereotypically “basic” beverage out there, they are pretty gosh darn yummy — I am not ready to give up on my summer just yet.

Thinking back on growing up, it seemed like summers lasted forever and there was always plenty of time to get chores done and veg-out in the backyard or go on endless, aimless bike rides to explore. The days were ours, just so long as we were home before it got too dark, didn’t track sand into the house and my mom didn’t get a call from a neighbor about something we were doing that we shouldn’t have been doing.

OK, it is safe to come back now. I have gotten the whining and nostalgia of youthful days before responsibilities, bills to pay and jobs to do.

I am still optimistic about getting some items crossed off my yard project to-do list. Top of my list will be something to keep the neighborhood deer from bedding down in and destroying what I hoped would become an asparagus patch. I have been attempting to cultivate an asparagus patch on and off for the past decade. It was not gone well for me. I will dutifully prepare the soil and clear a spot and bury the gnarly roots in early spring when the ground makes my hands hurt from the cold.

At best I will end up with a stalk or two, sickly looking twig-like growths that vaguely resemble the picture on the packaging. This was my most promising year yet, with the fuzzy bush like plant hopefully busy sucking down and storing nutrients so that next spring I could harvest some. Those hopes have been dashed thanks to deer that have decided living in town beats being in the woods.

The other day my wife was startled by one that had bedded down next to my driveway — incidentally right on top of what had been a happy little asparagus plant.

In my mind, the best deer is one that is grilled up and served as steaks and not one that is lurking about my neighborhood eating my plants and waiting to throw itself at one of our vehicles. If there was anything that would make be consider becoming a dog owner again, it would be to do my part and help keep deer out of my neighborhood.

I have not quite gotten to the point of standing in my underwear in the front lawn raising my fist and haranguing the miscreant mammals, but I am probably closer than my neighbors would like.

Yes, you are welcome for me placing that image in your head and causing you to lose your appetite for the next week. I like to do my part to encourage others to live healthier.

One of my challenges when it comes to getting home tasks done, is that when I have to be somewhere later in the day, I worry about missing it. So instead of getting projects done and then going to take the 20 minutes for a picture, or hours or so for an event, it becomes an all-consuming worry keeping me constantly looking at a clock. As a result, on weekend days when I have to work, I tend to just work the entire day.

The jury is out on if this makes me committed to my job or if it is a sign that I should be committed.

Until they come to take me away to spend quality alone time in room without any sharp objects, I should get started on the projects before my yard becomes covered in leaves.

Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News. Contact Brian at BrianWilson@centralwinews.com.