Exhaustion

I can always feel it coming. It starts with more and more frequent rest and the consumption of more water. Then my voice goes out and eventually I will stop to rest and I just can’t get going again.

A lot of the work on my house and property eventually leads to exhaustion. There seems to be an unending stream of digging, tree cutting, weed clearing, building and roofing. These are usually all-day projects, or all week commitments where I start early and end late.

One of my problems is that I’m so optimistic. I look at any job that I do taking much less time than it actually does. You would think that I would have learned by now that anything I plan as a one-day project will actually take four days; four “full” days.

You might ask why I tackle all these projects myself and part of it is an effort not to spend money. Had I hired out the two additions to my house I would have been out a couple hundred grand and I may not have been as pleased with the result. I can't understand how regular folks can afford to replace a roof. When I can no longer do my own roofing I will need to sell my home.

I have never had an excavator on the property that has done a good job and add to that, each time big equipment comes something gets destroyed. Fruit trees, collapsed septic tank lid, structure damage and digging in the wrong place or dumping soil in the wrong place.

My fussiness makes a long row for me to hoe. Maybe I’m getting too old for this. My joints ache at the end of a day. But oddly with a night of sleep I get refreshed enough to continue with more on the following day.