Dig in. Get dirty.

The last few weeks were peppered with projects that became significantly bigger once started. And while these unexpected hurdles aren’t always the most fun, they did each lend themselves to a life metaphor, that I now feel inclined to name, LetterKenny style.

“Don’t keep adding water to a leaky pond”

Don’t keep throwing something at a problem to make it appear fixed, when you’ll just have to do it again, and again. First of all, it wastes your “water’. Secondly, you’re always waiting for your pump to make a sucking sound letting you know more work is needed. So pull out all the rocks, boulders, and pea gravel. Find the roots that split your liner.Tend to the roots, Put down a new liner, and rebuild the pond. Bbrutal work, but your pond is still full each time you look at it.

“To find the clog, you gotta start where it’s clear.”

So if something is not working like it should, the chance of randomly digging down to discover the block, might leave you empty handed. So go to where you know it’s working, and dig up the line from there to see just why your drain tile isn’t draining. Once your find the block, make sure you clear it all the way out, maybe even upgrade your drain. Then when it pours, you don’t have a flood on your hands.

“Don’t set a screw in rotten wood”

Got something heavy to take care of? Make sure it’s anchored in something strong. Not sure if it’s strong because you can’t see it? Get a clear view. Move what you need to. See some rot? Cut it away. Keep cutting until you got something good. Then build it back up from there. Only when you have a steady structure are you ready to handle the heavy stuff.

You might need to learn to use tools you haven't used before. You might get a whole lot of metaphorical dirt under your nails. But a full pond, a dry backyard and a some fresh 2x4's feel pretty good

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