The saga continues as the sun rises and sets upon…  Our Yarden

It was with great lack of sensibility that my husband and I went to work on the deck that would span the area between the pool and trampoline a few days ago during a particularly fierce wind.  It pelted the heck out of us.  Doggedly determined to make progress on the Yarden (“It’s not snowing for goodness sakes!”) I had lured hubby, who does not like wind at all, out into the flying branches and debris hoping to finish chain sawing the remaining logs in half as I made futile attempts to clean up the piles of shavings and wood chips created in its wake.

I figured if I could ride in this weather, I could Yarden in this weather.  A fool’s errand for sure.  I had sand in my teeth.  And I kept having to stop to chase the lawn chair cushions and right the tools that were toppling over.  Our pool was developing a tiny beach atop the cover.  In the end, no amount of chocolate could keep my husband outside.  Sensible man.

The next day, great wind having passed, we plodded back out into the Yarden to assess conditions and, I was quite sure, make considerable progress on the layout of the deck.  I gazed lovingly at the copious materials.  As we cut and hauled in place the logs of varying size and width it began to dawn on me that I may have taken leave of my intellect.  As we tried dragging the heavy trunk bits into a variety of patterns I began to see quite clearly what it would take to make a level deck on lumpy dirt out of the uneven, tapering, crudely cut half sawn ex tree.

But by now my husband was in “determined mode”.  We had set out to create a deck and create a deck we (mostly he) would.  Brewing in the dark recesses of my mind I began to hear my “Just because you can doesn’t mean you should…” mantra oozing forth.

Uh, oh.  I would have to interrupt hot, tired, possibly cranky Action Man on a mission and inform him that perhaps there was a better choice we could consider.  My innards quaking, knowing full well I was stepping out on to the tracks of a freight train traveling at full speed, I said my peace.  Or pieces of my peace.  I quickly retreated inside to create a cold drink as a peace offering.

In the end however, he did after a “I don’t want to play anymore” tantrum (aka, “Why did you waste my…”) and a time out for the cool drink and something to eat reluctantly come back to the drawing board with me.  So the new plan is to make an 11’ feasting table with raised planters at each end, lots of benches and borders.  And we will all live on to see another day progress out in Our Yarden.