Clearing Brush and Other Presidential Stuff

We live on a small farm that has pastures with horse run-ins and a wonderful four-stall barn. The property is for sale and we moved out of state March 1, 2006. I hired someone to mow the property and keep the fence lines clear. That did not happen. You cannot trust someone to do work like that if you are not there to monitor what they do. We visited in late July and found that the property was totally overgrown.

This is probably what the President has to deal with as well. He often returns to his ranch in Crawford, TX and ends up clearing brush. First, it is cathartic, second, even he can't count on someone else doing what needs to be done.

We moved back to the farm temporarily to beat back mother nature. The weather here has been the driest August on record and it made brush clearing so much easier than expected. This weekend Ernesto hit the area and we have had more than enough rain. It has made brush clearing so much more difficult.

Today my wife, sons, daughter-in-love, brother and grandchildren all pursued the brush clearing. We worked all day, burned brush, dodged poison ivy and generally made a huge dent in the overgrowth. I have been working evenings and extra hours for several weeks. All the help today was a tremendous blessing. Tomorrow we mow the lawns and pastures again. Why? We have a showing Tuesday and are praying for the best. I am exhausted, but there is a wonderful cathartic effect clubbing through thick brush with a machete or trudging along behind a brush mower.

If it were a perfect world we would pay this place off, move our children into the houses, build a third house for my wife and me and then enjoy watching our grandchildren grow. But, after all, I still need to work and you don't always get what you want.