All I See is Deck

Yesterday, working on the deck meant hefting a couple of hefty big planters as well as the eternal scraping and brushing. But what joy it brings me to be so comfortably productive! Although my arms get a mighty workout, I am kneeling on a foam pad as I work. And yesterday, I put the radio outside to keep me company. Sadly, having arrived back where I began, I can see the shortcomings of my skills when I started, so I’ll be re-doing the first section I did again.

Even where I’ve done great job, the deck still looks shitty—painted in faded Bergundy with large patches of paint missing on many planks and rot in one area (that no one uses). But there’s no splintery wood anymore to catch on toes and all the loose bits of flaking paint are gone. It looks shitty-tidy now, instead of shitty-messy.

I bought the wire brush and scraper when I moved here. I must have thought about cleaning up the deck back then, but I never thought about the deck again until last week when suddenly I “saw” how much it violated my garden aesthetic. Shitty-tidy is good enough! It’s clean, and when you can’t be beautiful, be pristine is what I say.

By four, I was done. I’d done five hours of work—all without any baked reward. I took Her Highness for a walk and got into the spa as soon as I got home. So much of me hurt from the work, I really loved my soak last night.

I truly love Summer life—including all the work I do. Today and tomorrow are predicted to be as fine as yesterday. I’ll be able to get more deck work done before the clouds roll in on Sunday, my sublime day of rest.