Before I get into Arizona's death wish for me, I want to toot my own horn and show off what I accomplished before I ran into a ginormous spider.
It all started a long time ago ... just kidding. My grandma would try and entice me, my sister, and our friends into picking up rocks from her yard by calling it a rock party! Sigh. It didn't work, but because she was my grandma, of course we helped out. Even my friends. You guys rock!
Our current back yard is a disaster! The previous owners foreclosed on the house so we got a killer deal, but the contractors and such came and ransacked the place for things they wanted like a patch of fake grass in the back, hence the big, bald, rockless area comprising most of the back.
I love to garden now, not when I was younger. I love being outside and growing something that wasn't there before and connecting with my maker in different and profound ways. A little nerdy, but it helps me reconnect and be more at peace ... anyhoo.
My plans for our backyard consist of 2-3'x6' raised vegetable gardens and a pallet deck that you can check out yourself here. So, it's basically spring/summer here (I don't know that AZ has a spring. It's either hot hot or cold) so I took the kids and went outside to weed and move A LOT of rock.
This is where I started. I had help from both Corban and Jovi but the quickly lost interest and moved on. After a stop for lunch and a stop to put Jovi down for her nap, I made it this far:
This is where the deck and gardens are going. Notice the little pile of rocks in the second picture. Do you see them? I was moving rock when I noticed some weird webbing, like a spider web. Gross. I couldn't handle how much was there, so I moved on, saving that patch for Joe to clear. I'm such a good wife.
The rock party pile, and, of course, Corban conquering the pile! He called it his cave for most of the day--SIDE NOTE: After lunch Corban didn't want to help any more, but play video games. I guess he noticed I wasn't putting the rock on the pile any more, but spreading it across the bald spot. He paused his game, told me to finish his cave, and closed the door. Well. There you go.
I moved on to the other side of the yard where we are going to plant a tree we're getting from Trees for Tucson. I was progressing quickly when I noticed a flash of movement out of the corner of my eye.
Do you remember the scorpion and that flash of movement? I quickly looked down and saw the BIGGEST, the HAIREST, the FASTEST spider I have ever seen. It ran right past my leg and almost up my shorts!!! I was looking right at it when it stopped and I couldn't find it!
Done. I was done.
I dropped my shovel. I took off my gloves. And I haven't gone back outside since.
The rocks are mostly picked up and the weeds mostly gone. I'll head back out eventually. Maybe after a day of swimming.
That looks like a LOT of rock to move! I hope we never have to landscape a yard again. Good luck with your garden! And the spiders. :)
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