Clearing Brush

the last stretch of brush before

Since I finished clearing off the lower patio several weeks ago, I've been spending my outdoor exercise hours clearing the hill behind the castle. The house is right next to a park, and from the park's playground, you can see it sitting perched at the top of the hill, looking as if it was grown out of the surrounding bedrock by a powerful witch in some former grand era.

Said hill doesn't belong to the castle, but no one else has taken care of it for decades, and it seemed like a good place to put my energy once I finished up clearing the patio.

It's taken several weeks of cutting bushes and dragging them down the hill to get the space cleared. I love the results. Now, when you look at the hill, instead of seeing a mass of impenetrable brush and brambles, you see a visible slope to the base of the castle. (note to self: plant some ground cover...) As I cut, I stopped to pick up the many pieces of broken glass, other pokey things, and assorted bits of trash. Many buckets later, it's now a safer place to walk, though it'll never be barefoot ready.

the last stretch, after

When I started, I wasn't sure what to do with the bushes I was cutting down, so I started a pile at the bottom of the hill, on the edge of the park. No one came to yell at me, so as I kept working, I kept piling. The pile ended up some six feet tall, and covers an area roughly 20'x20'.

Earlier this week, as I was finishing up the last stretch of the project, a couple of trucks from the parks department came and parked across the road from where I was working.

"Uh, oh", I thought. "I'm in trouble now." After all, I hadn't talked to anyone before starting work, and I'd made quite a mess.

One of the drivers motioned me over.

"You do all this?"
"Maybe. <pause> Am I in trouble if I did?"

He laughed, a full belly laugh. "No. You're not in trouble. You're doing a good job, and the whole area looks a lot better. As a bonus, with it cleared off, there's no longer a place for people to hide and get up to mischief. No, you're not in trouble; I wanted to thank you for helping out."

the slope up to the castle

"Whew!", I thought, then ventured a question. "So, about this brush pile. I didn't ask before I started, and it got bigger than I anticipated it would. I don't have a good way to get rid of it. Do I need to call someone and 'fess up that I made a mess, or will it automagically go away by itself if I pretend I have no idea how it got there?"

He laughed again. "No need to worry," said he. "It's not my job, but there's another crew who comes around to do the mowing. They'll take care of it as part of their regular maintenance."

"Whew, again!", thought I. As the pile grew, I'd been worried about that part. It was good to know I hadn't stirred up trouble for anyone (including myself) with my unasked-for community service project.

Still smiling, he wished me a good day, and drove off. I waved goodbye, and turned my attention to cutting down the last stretch of growth. As my complaining knees and I climbed the hill that afternoon after finishing up, I was tired, the good kind of tired..

It felt good to have done good.