WWC#36: Pure Regret

Regret is a simple and yet complicated thing. 

Some of the more simple forms of regret take place in our landscaping.
Whomever planted these bushes must have wanted them to grow into a large hedge.  They did.  It has been 30 years since our house was built, and we now have a barely-manageable hedge.  MusicMan used a step-ladder to reach as far into the center of the hedge as he could, to cut the top down to size.  He finally had to crawl into the hedge and pop up like a gray mole from underground, in order to finish the job.  This is because the only thing between the back side of the hedge and the cement steps to the basement is a rickety iron railing. 

And that’s just at the back of the house. 

 In the front of the house we bought last year was a very overgrown hedge.

No, I’m not talking about the rhododendron that’s nearly as tall as the house itself.  I’m talking about the hedge that lined the entire front porch…the hedge that only let folks pass through to the front door in single file.  

It was made up of 2 different kinds of evergreen bushes.  I believe that one type of bush was in the boxwood family; the other type of bush was sort of Christmas-tree style. 

Did I mention it was a VERY BIG HEDGE ?

In the heat of summer, my husband and 2 teenagers worked to take it down.  After days of sweaty, back-breaking work, only 2 bushes were removed.  It was at this point that we had the brainy idea of cutting the remaining bushes back.  WAY BACK.  

Poor bush, we regret your pruning.

SuperDad did his best to describe proper pruning techniques, but sometimes teenagers take everything so literally!  When he said to cut away any straight branches, only leaving those that curved and twisted, he didn’t realize there was a very important straight branch right in the middle of you…
Thankfully, there are small signs of hopefulness in our pruning madness.  New growth is happening, and SuperDad is vindicated in ruthlessly ruining the hedge his plan for the bushes that line our front porch. 

However, I’ve only blathered on talked about the simple sorts of regret. 

Now for the heavy stuff…

My father left this morning; after a 5-day stop at our house, he is continuing his journey, visiting family around the United States.  I’m not sure how many miles he is logging, but he is driving a large loop around the “lower 48.”  His health hasn’t been stellar over the past few years and this was a trip he was VERY determined to make.  His children were concerned that he might not “make it” (frankly, we feared he’d end up dying part-way through) but we are VERY happy to be proved wrong.  I regret that it has been over 5 years since we last saw him.   {I also regret that I was wearing a t-shirt and an apron for this pic!}  Since my given name means pure, this photograph is where I will sum up my “Weekly Words Challenge” submission. 

To find out all the how-to’s of the WWC, go here.
The well-rested Tink, freshly back from vacation, is our fearless leader.