Good intentions

Every spring a big job out on the deck is to empty out the little pool, clean it, and refill it with clean water so that the little manneken pis can, well, pis.



Every winter the pool fills up with leaves that decompose, so the water-leaf mixture becomes black and sludgy. When I empty it out, I take the water-leaves out bucket by bucket and dump them over the retaining wall onto the lawn. Later the messy leaves get picked up by the lawn mower.

This weekend is Memorial Day, and my family will come over on Monday. I want the deck and yard to be nice. I want to empty the pond, then mow the lawn so that everything is tidy.

The lawn is ready to be mowed, so I decided that when I got home this evening I would empty and clean the pool, then tomorrow I can mow. That was my firm plan all day, right until I came home from work and, as I was approaching my door, I looked at the pool and thought, "No way."

So maybe I'll just have to mow tomorrow and do the pool on Friday and just have messy leaves or bring the mower out for just that little bit of cleanup.

Oh, dear. We all know what place is paved with good intentions. I'd better justify myself. I was just sick for two days. I don't have the strength. It will just have to wait. No one is harmed by my leafy pool of dirty water.