Tracy and I tackled the hedge immediately, trimming the huge shrubs back from the fences and topping them off into a neat line. Ladder work while holding an electric hedge clipper is one way for me to get the blood pressure up. After trimming two-thirds of the hedge tops, my arms were killing me from one-arm swinging that trimmer up and over the hedge while holding a straight line. I came down off the ladder and asked Tracy if she could take over for a little bit. My wife is no stranger to hard work, so she grabbed up the trimmer and up the ladder she went.
As I stood watching Tracy for a moment, I started looking at Shea's play structure and how truly aged the thing had become in the years since we installed it. The wood was rotting, ladder rungs were warping, and a couple of bolts didn't look very secure to me at all, including those holding the swings.
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| Shea's sunshine Lego time under the umbrella |
I marched over to Shea, who was playing with her Legos in the shade of a patio umbrella. "I'm thinking of taking down your play structure. You want to come and play on it one last time?"
Shea didn't even mope or whine at all about it. She considered the play structure in the distance, decided to go down the slide one last time, and went back to playing with her Legos. After that, the demolition project was ON.
I quickly unbolted all the plastic pieces from the structure, taking down the slide, the "rock" stairs, and the swing. Panel by panel, I disassembled the roost at the top of the structure, and then the heavy work started. The remaining portions of the structure were solid posts and beams, some with new screws from when I installed it in my back yard, and some original screws, which were part of the original installation in my next door neighbor's yard. Not one of the old screws would budge. The ones I installed reversed out without difficulty.
So, I got as far as I could with "civilized tools" like power drills and socket wrenches for as long as I could, but it eventually came down to the sledgehammer. There's something thrilling about swinging a sledgehammer and watching the damage it inflicts. The play structure soon lay in manageable pieces on my lawn and I stood above it sweating and panting, but satisfied. While I was playing Johnny Deconstructer, my wife and her mother had taken the hedge clippings and the first parts of the play structure to the dump. When they returned, we loaded up the remainder and I hauled it all away to the dump.
For me, there is something infinitely satisfying about the dump (even while I marvel at some of the wastefulness I see at the dump). I unloaded the wood, plastic slide, swing, paid my dues and came home. When I returned, the back yard had a whole new feel to it, bigger, wider, less cluttered.
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| The negative space where the play structure used to stand |
I was reluctant to get out in the yard, but I wound up going above and beyond my wife's expectations for the day. I didn't call it a day until 6:30 that night, but I could feel the day residing in the ache of my back, the sore arm from swinging the trimmer, and the satisfaction at accomplishing more than I set out to do.
I'm not always the first one to jump at the chance for home improvement, but I often like the days I get to spend with power tools and plain labor. When I finally sat down at the end of the day, I was treated to this:
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| Putting down a shandy after a day's work |
And this:
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| Traeger-smoked Lamb and Cauliflower with Roasted Potatoes |
Not bad, y'all. Not bad.
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