Mud Hole

On Monday, I shook hands with my yard guy, Juan, and promised to pay him a substantial amount of money.

The next day, he came and turned my back yard into a giant mud pit.

Yeah, I'm really not kidding. 

Step One: he ripped out every single blade of grass.

Step Two: he dug a giant hole in the middle of what was once my lawn.

The full effect doesn't look too terrible in these photos, but please imagine a drenching downpour liquefying every inch into a wobbly mass of muck, and you'll get a better idea of what I was staring down.

Now to be fair, I take full responsibility for this monstrous mess. This whole project was my idea. I'd dreamed it up, bit by bit over the years, and I was thrilled to finally have taken the step of turning it into reality. This is my pool dream coming to life!

 And I know perfectly well that in any creative endeavor, things are always gonna get worse before they get better. But just the same, I was having some serious second thoughts about the chaos I'd unleashed. 

What if my backyard makeover turned out to be a terrible, awful, no good, very bad idea?

I found myself mired in a pit of self-doubt almost as deep and desperate as the ever-expanding hole in my backyard. 

So, after a few agonizing days and restless nights, I gave myself some serious self-talk. 

I reminded myself to trust in the process - and in Juan, who has never let me down. 

I fought back the panic. 

I encouraged myself to stay the course. 

And I held my breath, waiting for 

the rain to stop, 

the mud to settle, 

and the beautiful vision I carried in my mind to begin to take shape in front of my eyes.

And today, it happened. 

The sun came out.

Soft breezes swirled over the fence.

And when Juan brought me out for the daily tour, I saw the pieces beginning to fall into place.

• My little stock tank pool now sits in his forever home, settled in at ground level.

• A gravel bed for the stone patio wraps around the pool.

• A rock retaining wall creates a level space on my otherwise sloped yard for the patio.

• New pathways lead to the pool area and wind around the perimeter of the yard.

For sure, there are a lot of details still to fall into place, and plenty of back-breaking work to be done. 

But I'm no longer gnashing my teeth and fretting about the eventual outcome.

My back yard is moving past the mud hole stage and is well on its way to making my lake lady dreams come true. 

* * * * *

I'm a lake lady and I need water. 

Follow along as I try to make my pool-owning dreams come true.

Commitment

Pivot

355 Days

Mud Hole

Getting Stoned

Señor Juan Aguayo