We are now property-owners of six acres of undeveloped jungle and Hubby and I haven’t been this excited in a long time. We are both nuts! But the property is absolutely gorgeous and on high ground (which is saying something for that neck of the woods). The closing on the property was yesterday and the first thing we did to celebrate was to do some clean-up work.
With yard implements and chain-saw in hand, we braved the jungle with smiles on our faces, capturing the excitement with my trustee Kodak (which has still not been sent in to Wal-Marts for printout (I lost my UBC cord to download to computer), don’t you just love the digital world?) and returned to the truck several hours later whipped and chain-saw-less and broken by a mere jungle. I have never been so exhausted in my entire life. My work began in long sleeves in 65 degree (fahrenheit) weather but I came out of that longsleeve shirt just 30 minutes later and put on a t-shirt — I was already sweating.
I am sure that every vine known to mankind is in that jungle – I found all of them, honeysuckle, morning glories, and plenty of poison ivy/oak. I have pulled at vines, trimmed, chopped, dragged, sawed, lopped, and raked until every muscle in my body was screaming in protest, especially my back. And then on the way to the vehicle, I found myself scratching my arms and remembered the poison ivy/oak that I had been cutting and pulling. I’ve been clawing at my skin ever since. And then I watched Hubby tear up the chain-saw. It was a brand-new “Poulan” chainsaw. But if anyone can figure out a way to tear one up, it will be my Hubby (I’m so proud). He at last figured out how to start the darn thing with the pull thingy, but the chain will not stay on. He had to rechain the saw three times (while I slaved away at the jungle) and at last threw up his hands in defeat and declared it needed a new chain.
To add to my frustration, my trustee Kodak camera quit working. It powers up but will not take the picture — instead, the camera turns itself off. I’ll do some research online to see if the camera can be fixed or not. But it looks like I’m going to be cameraless for a while. I’ll have to beg, borrow, and steal to get any photos from now on.
At the end of the day, although exhausted and broken, we had to smile at the accomplishments that we made. It had nearly killed us, but we had cleared a whole 17 by 18 feet of jungle. Only 3,240,000 square feet to go! You go girl! Ouch, I need a back message, manicure, pedicure, and a drink.
