It's Complicated

I don't know about you, but my life has become very complicated.  

I'm not sure exactly how or when is became this way, but I'm pretty sure I'm the one who is responsible.  I've constructed a life that requires my constant attention, an elaborate network of people, businesses, systems, structures, processes, and devices - all designed to enable my complex lifestyle.

My network has become a net; not a safety net mind you, but more of a net that's used to tangle up animals.  

Exhibit A:  My Lawn

I own a fair-sized home with a larger lawn.  My lawn is not huge, but it is big enough that it requires a lawn tractor so I can mow it in a reasonable amount of time.  With the tractor, I can mow my lawn in about an hour, but it requires time in other ways.  I fill it with gasoline, change the oil and filter, sharpen the blades, lubricate the bearings, change the belts and spark plugs.  In the winter I remove the battery, change the oil, and add fuel stabilizer to protect it and, after I rearrange my entire garage, I can store it away until the next Spring.

The tractor is not all my lawn requires.  I also need a push mower to get smaller areas my tractor cannot reach.  The push mower requires all the same maintenance as the tractor.  And still, my push mower cannot accomplish the detail that my gas-powered string trimmer and edger provide.  I must care for them, too.

  

I have to keep my lawn looking great in order to maintain the value of my home and to fulfill the covenants in my subdivision.  To do that, I must water and fertilize my lawn.  So, I maintain the sprinkler system, carefully adjusting and replacing the heads and setting timers in the Spring.  In the Winter, I pay someone to blow out the lines so that the sprinkler system doesn't explode from freezing. I pay a nice guy named Bob to do that.

During the Summer months I pay a company to add fertilizer six times a year.  They always want me to buy grub killer.  I don't know why.

Because my lawn is well watered and fertilized, it grows fast.  And so I have to mow it 2 or 3 times per week in the Summer. This generates six, 55-gallon bags of grass clippings each week.  My neighborhood asks that all clippings be bagged and disposed of through a special curbside pick up service, for which I pay a premium.  I drag the heavy the bags out to the end of my driveway every Sunday evening.  If I forget, I miss a pickup and the grass clipping ferment, creating an ammonia stench that can be smelled for great distances.

Now, let me tell you about my pool ...   ; -)

I'm blessed to have been given so much to care for.  Really.  And honestly, there was a time when I loved taking care of my lawn.  But I think it's time for me to simplify some things.  I've had my run at complex living, but now it's starting to make me a little weird.  And who wants that?

Over the course of this blog, I'll be figuring out ways to make my life a little more simple.  I'll be figuring out ways to carve out white space so that I can think again, spend more time with family and friends, and most of all, find more time to spend with God.  I hope you'll join me on my adventure.  Feel free to comment and encourage along the way.  It's going to be simply amazing.

- Butch