A neighbor of ours is a Korean war veteran. He is in frail health and cannot care for his yard as he used to. We have had a particularly wet couple of weeks and the grass and weeds have been growing non-stop.
He has a rock area where the grass has grown over time. Because of the rocks, it cannot be mowed, so the grass keeps getting taller and taller. Every time I drive past his house, I look at his yard and think to myself - I really ought to help.
On Sunday, we held a family council to find out what the kids wanted to do on Memorial Day. Their vote was a picnic and to fly kites. My desire was to do something meaningful on this holiday. In the end, we decided to do both.
We spent the first couple of hours of the morning shopping for the right kites. It took several stores to finally find some.
At 10 am we walked over to our neighbor's house and began working on his yard. It took a couple of hours of strong labor to get it all cleaned up, but we did it! It is the best feeling to see the area under control once again.
After cleaning up our work, we had a picnic in our yard and then took the kids to a park to fly our kites.
It took them a few tries to get the hang of it, but eventually,
they all did. Emilia stuck with it the longest, and now they keep asking to go back to do it again.
they all did. Emilia stuck with it the longest, and now they keep asking to go back to do it again.
Afterward, we took the kids out for dinner to celebrate this fun and meaningful day.
Here is a picture of our front yard, festively decorated for Memorial Day.
