Spring

Spring is certainly here. Here in Fresno we are already having temperatures in the high seventies, and that means lots of yard work. My back and shoulders are already aching just thinking about it! You know what, though, Angela is the one that has to do all the hard stuff, and she never complains. It's sprinkler-fix time. Yesterday afternoon, while I was having lunch with friends, she dug out three sprinklers, replaced them, and had them up in running in the two hours I was gone. Now, if you live in a place where the soil is nice and sandy, that would not be a challenge. BUT: around here, we have this dreadful thing called hardpan. So, digging a hole that's deeper than about 6 inches is a real back breaker. So, I bless her little heart (and strong muscles, even though they are far less strong than when they were before David's transition ! Yeah, hormones sometimes work in reverse too.).

I get all the fun jobs like mowing the lawn, weeding and planting the garden. When I started laying out my vegetable garden, Angela quickly got involved. She got out the graph paper so my plots were perfectly measured out. While I helped dig the sixty-foot trench for the main line of the sprinkler system for my irrigation, she designed it! Not only does it work perfectly, but the row of sprinklers is detachable so I can get them out of the way for rototilling and harvesting. It's great to have a mathmatical whiz in the family. She has all the design savy of a decorator and all that logical brain stuff from her years as David!

Oh yeah, we're going to have to take down a tree. Dast oh dear! Retirement has its blessings, but having lots of ready monies for hiring people like tree trimmers and gardeners is not one of them. So, we have to take down the tree; It's roots are getting under the patio. The last time we did this it was a math project, so I'm sure this one will be all the more so because it's near the house. There are also several other trees in the back yard, so this particular tree must be dropped in exactly the right place. I know it will be triagulated, measured, and cut perfectly, so I have no worries. Again, Angela is my mathmatical angel.

Yep, spring makes me aware of many of the Best Things About Being Married to a Transsexual!