Free at last!

It's a good evening. I'm tired, I'm sore, but it's good.

The first weekend of April we spent up with family. We stayed at my older brother's (Dangerdad) and enjoyed an incredibly well-planned birthday party for one of our nieces. It was a Jedi party, as she's crazy into Star Wars right now. It was tremendous fun.

Afterward, when all the kiddos were off for a fun little excursion to Grandma's house, my brother, Bubbles and I went out to a range area. We put holes in targets for a while, and I was gratified to see both the rifle that I'd fixed and cleaned and Bubbles' pistol working very well. Many targets were blasted, and Bubbles demonstrated she's a better shot than I am. I can still keep it on paper most of the time, but she's better. I need practice.

This morning I went to court and had a contract recognized and entered into court records to resolve a matter between a younger brother (not Dangerdad, our families are close). Due to the contract, I can't say more than that, but the process did cost me my relationship with my parents and my youngest brother, who sided with the opposing party. I'll probably never understand why, but my family is safe, and shielded from hostility, and that's what really matters to me.

This evening, after I'd gotten home from work, we planted two maple trees in the front yard. Just yesterday we had a massive ash tree removed from the front (and another from the back). One of the maples needed to go fairly close to the site of the ash, and I encountered some of the biggest roots I've had to deal with in any yard work. I can still swing an axe, and axes still work on roots. I'm going to have blisters, but I think it will have been worth it. I hope that little maple does okay. It has significant cleared space, and once it establishes itself it may be able to wrap around the old dead roots and gain nutrients from them as they decay. I hope so anyway. I may simply be displaying my horticultural naivete.

Here's to a good week and hoping for more to come. Well, maybe with a bit less stress.