ATTENTION: IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE POSTS " THE KNOT PART 1 AND 2" ...STOP, GO BACK AND READ BEFORE YOU GO ON!!! ;)
Yes, the area in the front of the house, where the stairs and the first floor's window are
had to be tackled first. However, I took another look around. Maybe I should start with the
pollen covered stairs. They looked yellow and need a good scrub. But, wait...No! The
Crepe Myrtles needed to be trimmed down...right now....I was getting anxious... NO! How
about bringing up some of the clay pots up to the deck? It would be so much easier to water
them when needed! Oh, wow....it didn't matter. It really didn't matter...I just needed to
START. I took a deep breath, and decided to start with the landscape near the stairs as I
had planned in the beginning.
Therefore, I walked over to the garage, only to I remember that the door had to be opened from
the inside! Alright. Up the stairs to my front door, then down to the other level where there is
a door that opens to the garage. Before going in, I looked around and said... "that's another
fine mess!!! ". Yet, I made blind eyes, and walked towards the garage door, where I checked
for creepy spiders, and other unwanted bugs....I put my hand firmly around the handle, then
pulled up and back until it completely open.
Now, with daylight filling the garage I could search for my gardening tools. Ha! All I could find
were a couple of shovels, the rake, a trowel, and one semi-rusted bypass pruner. I
tossed them outside by the stairs as a hot flash hit me. The rush of heat went from my back
upwards to my face. I could feel my ears burning! When it was over, I stepped outside the
garage. Hmmmm..hmmmm....I scouted the area.WOW!!! I guess I'll start pruning the two
overgrown boxwood, and so I did. Then, I pruned the hollies to the right of the stairs. To the
left I trimmed the Camellia and Anise bushes, the Tea trees and the rhododendrons, plus
all the smaller bushes. When I was done it looked like Edward Scissorhands had been there!
Now, the mess had to be picked up... I went to get the wheelbarrow but the front tire was
flat. Wonderful, in order to dispose of all the trimmings I had to carry bunches of it, walking
all way to the right side of the house to a wooded area where the trimmings would become
mulch. Later it would be covered with pine straw.How many trips I made?TOO MANY! All the
while stopping for hot flashes and wiping sweat off my face. Then I raked... putting all the leaves
and old pinestraw in a large bucket and dragging it to the same wooded area. Several trips
for that too.
All clear of of clippings, branches,and old pine straw, I stood looking at the Georgia red clay
soil and imagined it all covered with new pine straw. Pine straw that for the first time would have
to be delivered to my house, because Pepe was the one that used his red 1996 hatch back
Honda Civic to bring it home.I decided there was a space that needed something. HA!
my eyes spotted 3 small bushes on the other side of the driveway. That's it...a "trans-plant".
I went across, then down the driveway ,un dug the bushes and went back and forth until I had
them all by the stairs. Then dug the three holes,stopping for hot flashes and planted the bushes
in their new home. Nice!
By now I was very tired, and the temperature was rising. I needed to water and finish up.
Instead ...I pushed myself a little further.... I decided to go around to the back and bring up
the ceramic pots from the brick patio to the deck above. So,....up and down the stairs I
went. How many times? TOOOO MANY!!! I know I would be regretting all of this the following
day...oh, yeah! Next, I transplanted some plants into my prettier pots, and decided those
would look great in the little front porch...5 plants...five trips.Those I counted. I was exhausted,
and about to scream. I needed a break. I took off my shoes and went in the kitchen to have
some coffee....AAAHHHHHHH....the air conditioning felt so good!
After my coffee break, down the deck stairs once more, and around to the front. It was 10:30
A.M. I would be calling Oscar soon. It was time to clean my act ....and myself! I went over to
the brass faucet close to the garage door. Adjacent was a reel cart with a blue hose coiled up.
I searched for the coupling that would connect with the faucet, then I figured all I had to do
was unroll the hose. However, as I tried to roll of the hose by turning the cart's handle, the
hose was twisting at one end. I grabbed the connection and tried to unscrew the hose, but it
had become a knot! A knot!!! As I tried to struggle and loosen it I lost my balance and fell on
the shovel.That did it...I had it....I WAS MAD. I got up holding on to the shovel and FLUNG i
over, across and beyond the driveway! I was loosing my nerves. Why was this happening?
Where was my husband? Oh, yeah ...in Spain. Oddly enough my cell phone rang. It was him!
After the hellos ...I asked, "Pepe why does the roller thing with the hose does not roll? I hooked
the hose and now I have a big knot and ...." I stopped to catch my breath. "and I can't get this
unhooked from the faucet?"
He answered. "Honey...the roller cart broke last Summer, and I would just unroll the hose ...then
attach it to faucet...."
"Wha...what? Is there anything else that is not working around here?" I complained. Pepe
listened. I knew he was feeling terrible about the whole situation with the car, mylack of sleep
and the yard work...but I had no compassion with him. I was sweaty, terribly irritated, and was
not in the mood to talk at the moment. I said, "Call me later...I need to fix this" and hung up.
I stood there staring at the knot, when another hot flash hit me !!!!! AGHHHHH!!!! I took that cart
and started lifting it and twirling it around over and over again ... mumbling in Spanish...until the
hose was straight. Only then was I capable of unscrewing the hose from the faucet. I grabbed
one end of the hose and pulled and pulled until al 50 feet of it was out of the cart. I stopped
to catch my breath. I wanted to cry....I wanted to throw myself from my deck, but that would
only leave me dumb at the most, I wanted to pull my hair out!. Nevertheless, I proceeded to
hook the hose again to the faucet and turned the water on ...grabbed the nozzle and pressed
it. Yeah, water came out....alright...but from the wrong places! "Somebody shoot me...please!"
I shouted, not caring about the neighbors hearing me. There I was... an angry woman talking to
a hose. I gave up...I couldn't unscrew the nozzle, so I went on to finish the job while it dripped
and fizzled water at me. I have to admit the cold water splashing on me as I watered felt good.
After watering It was time to go up to the tiny porch by the front door. I cleaned the door with
a sponge and hosed it down. Itried to reach the radial window above the door with a broom.
Yes, a broom. I scrubbed theyellow banners of the stairs and the rails until they were
white again. I was hosing down the soap from the steps when I saw Sandra turning into
our street, then came up the driveway and parked. She smiled when she got out of the car
and stood by it while asking "What's up?"
"OH ...NOTHING MUCH...." I said ..."I am just about to drop dead..."
"God, mom you always exaggerate things so much!!!" she said coming up the stairs.
Oh, that just did it for me...." I exaggerate...HA....HA...HA...OH REALLLLLYYYYY?" I said with
a higher tone of voice as she passed by me, gave me a kiss and opened the front door.
"Hold on a moment!!!" I said harshly. By the look on her face I could tell she wanted to escape
from me..."I have been thinking...I can't do this ....I really can't. I am not EXAGGERATING!!!.
This house is going to kill me !There is too much to be done and I don't have the time, the
energy...nor the money to pay for someone to help me... Maybe I should just rent it and we
should go to an apartment until it's time to move to Spain."
"Mom...what are you saying? Please!" and she went up the flight of stairs from the foyer to
the main floor.
I stood still with the hose squirting water at me asking myself, "does anyone understand me?
does anyone really, truly understands how I feel?". The answer was yes....Pepe. He's the
one....but he was far away now. Sadness struck me. Defeat was creeping in me. The lawn
that needed cutting.... the pine straw that needed to be bought and placed as a cover, the
stairs that needed a fresh hand of paint....the house's siding that needed to be pressured wash,
the wasp nests that needed to be sprayed, the weeds that needed to be weeded, the deck that
has to be child proofed, the carpet that needed to be steam cleaned, the kitchen cabinets that
scream to be painted!!!!!! I felt my brain tangling into a knot ...just like the hose. I wanted
out of this mess. I felt like crying, was feeling faint, and started breathing faster.... I went down
the stairs, turned off the water and rushed up again as I was about to black out. In the hallway
I called out to Sandra and she came out in a hurry to help me to my bed, where I plopped on
my back letting my legs dangle from the bed. Dizzy, I was so dizzy...I said to her slowly
"DO NOT TELL YOUR FATHER", and asked her to leave the room. Then my tears started
flowing. Not just for me...but for every woman that is on her own. For the widowthat has to
face life by herself, for the woman who's husband leaves her after many years of marriage,
for the newly divorced woman left with kids to raise, for the single moms trying to make
ends meet, for women who's husbands are in the military and far away from home.
After crying all I wanted, I got up and took a shower. The warm water eased my sore body. The
knot it my brain started to untangle as I tilted my head back and let the water flow over it. I
started telling myself that things had to get better...nothing stays the same forever after all.
I knew that I someday would go out and see the beauty beyond the weeds. I stepped out of
the shower, wrapped a towel around me and walked to the window. I lifted the blind and I could
see some of the beauty already....
My Laurel trees blooming...
Dazzling Wisteria everywhere filling the air with sweet perfume..
My darling Cherry tree ....
And even the newest member, my apple tree, had flowers...I found myself smiling...
Feeling better, I faced my new challenge. I quickly got dressed, put my hair in a pony tail, then
called Oscar. He said he would be over in a few minutes and would call his AAA membership
to send a tow truck. And so it was that my ugly purple car was taken to Firestone at Mall of
Georgia, where later that day I got a call that would leave me cold.
-"Mrs. Aragon? "
-"yes?'
-"This is John, at Firestone, just wanted to let you know your car's starter has to be replaced,
it will be $649.00. Does that sound good to you?"
I thought....Are you crazy? HOW IS THAT GOING TO SOUND GOOD TO ANYONE!!!
-"Well ...no it doesn't but I need my car, so...I guess ...go ahead and start." What else could
I say? This was not a good day...
The following two days were not fantastic either.... my car's AC broke, the washer
machine flooded my downstairs... Sandra was sick, Alonso was sick, and I had migraines...
Whether one bad day, or a combination of many of them, when done and dealt with we are
either a weaker person or ....a survivor. What am I?
A SURVIVOR!
