Too Early For Spring

An update to the early spring that I reported in my front yard. I was going to cut it close, but I thought I would get the weeds pulled and make the imposed deadline before getting fined from the homeowner’s association. I had made a valiant start, however the tiny cleared area in comparison with the rest of the yard was barely even noticeable.

Then of course I got the flu....not just a mild case of the flu, but the whole shebang....High fever, chills, aches, lost my voice and had the head cold to match....it was ugly....I tried on the second day of my illness to go out and pull some weeds thinking " well its not exactly strenuous so I should be all right" - well I lasted all of ten minutes before I was exhausted and retired back to bed.

The next day was the deadline day and I awoke still sick, with dark skies and the threat of rain. Once the rain started, it softly rained throughout the day and into the evening. I was hoping that this meant that the members of the committee could not get out to assign fines - but knew that it would be a short reprieve.

The weeds thrived on the additional rain and soon my weed garden was even more lush and full. Professionals would have to be hired, and so I set about the task of finding someone to come out and tackle the job. It took a while, but I found 4 places that did this kind of work and called three of them and e-mailed the fourth then waited for the calls to get quotes.

I waited a full day and nothing. Not one call. Is the economy that good that these places can turn down business? I made secondary calls and e-mails. Nothing. Meanwhile the weeds were thriving and growing taller by the minute. Finally after no response from anyone, I was able to get someone through someone my mom’s lawn care service knew of....by the third day after the deadline, the work was going to be done.

It was expensive, but necessary. The weeds were removed and the yard looked great...for almost 3 days. Then the new shoots of green started to appear. But this time I am armed with weed killer and will not rest until they are all chemically extinguished.

By the way, I finally did get a call from one of the four businesses that I originally contacted...a full four days after I contacted them a second time....I politely said that someone else had beaten them to the work....to which the lady replied.....oh well and hung up.....