The Dirty Truth About Garbage: Be Honest

As my friend Heidi says, I am the “country mouse” and she is the “city mouse.” We love identifying the differences and then sharing them with each other via a photo or dramatic status update. “Driving past the Mall of America 2 miles away from my house!” she announces. (Don’t worry: her husband was driving.)

Mall of America? I'll just take a Super-Target! 

Meanwhile, the nearest IKEA from me is 2 hours away.

I usually brag about the solidarity out here. Complaining about how we are a thousand miles away from everything is part of the culture. 

But I can't imagine being anywhere else. 

It’s fun to compare the differences occassionally and recently I was thinking about some not-so-obvious ones.

For one, well-water is very different than the water that comes out of your tap in town. When I was little we just drank it, but now most people have some kind of filter system for it. Yes the water is free. But you might not want to drink it straight out of the hose.

Another thing people often overlook when they think of how fun it would be to live in the country:
   Snow Removal.
First of all, if you are WAY out here..

..you can plan on your road being about the last one to see a plow. And after they finally go by, how are you going to get out of your driveway? Most of us have long lanes that lead back to the garage. Nothing you want to tackle with just a snow-shovel if you can help it. You need a snow-blower, a tractor, or a truck with a shovel on the front of it.

It's pretty, but I am NOT shoveling all that.

However, on the flip side, Fall is easy. I don’t know of anyone out here who rakes their leaves in the fall because the leaves will just blow into the field next to your yard. It’s great! (I really hate raking leaves.)

See those fields back there? You won’t even notice when the leaves go there. It’s great. By the way, that's about 30 feet from where my husband proposed to me. ♡ I love that spot.

The trash situation is really special too. It wasn’t until recently that companies started offering trash pick-up out here. Most of us grew up burning our trash and lots of people still do that. (There’s a burn pile out back for those occasions. Have to wait until it’s not too windy or rainy.)

Cleaning out the fridge is an extra-gross job. You can’t throw away the tupperware that's harboring the unknown: plastic doesn’t burn (FYI). So you either have to make arrangements for regular trash pick up for that kind of trash OR….. clean out each container, and then wash it for recycling. There is no recycling that comes to your door, so that gets piled up with the rest of the recycling in the basement or garage. And most of us don’t have garbage disposals, so where am I supposed to go with the science experiments that were growing in there?

If you’re really on top of it, you will have a compost pile going for food scraps and garbage.

Or you can share some of it with the livestock.

 Although they are pickier than you might think.

(You can put it straight into the trash can, but that gets stinky and messy pretty quick.) Either way, lots of us country people have a 'garbage container' of some sort. The garbage gets thrown into something like an gallon-sized ice cream bucket, old tupperware, or maybe a worn-out pan. Then when it’s full you have to CARRY IT OUT TO THE FIELD.
I know. It's as much of a hardship as it sounds. Especially when it’s 10 degrees outside. Or even a rainy 43, to be honest.

(I don't have any pictures of that.)

Some country-folk leave their garbage container out on the counter for daily filling, or on the back of the stove. Others keep it under the sink so it isn’t so public. I know those who have stored it in their oven, but let me tell you - if you forget it’s in there and start the oven preheating - PEWWWEEEEEE!! (Plus, if your container is plastic, the mess just got WAY bigger!!)

Today when I was carrying the garbage out, I was thinking about country-people and how we handle our garbage. It was decent outside, so I wasn’t complaining. I was actually enjoying my walk.

Ok, this picture might not be from today. 

But I WAS carrying garbage. And thinking about how there isn’t just one way to deal with our trash. But we all have garbage that we have to do something with. And that reminded me - Hey, we ALL have garbage we have to do something with!

Like, at one time or another we ALL have awkward conversations with people we are related to. Or a dumb fight with our spouse that we wish could just be erased. We all have someone we are sortof trying to avoid right now. Or a tendency to judge our peers - especially when we happen to be having a good day. Not one of us goes a day without messing up or falling down or complaining too much. There is always something. We all have garbage we collect.

And we have to figure out what to do with it.

Do not put it in the oven and then forget about it and then turn the oven on!! It will get SOOO smelly!!

Instead, let’s resolve to take the garbage out every day. Christ offers us daily renewal in prayer. It’s so therapeutic to take the garbage out, hand it to Christ, and walk away. Be honest with Him. He knows how your day went. You don’t even have to wait till the end of the day, even! You can dump it on Him right away when you see what has gone wrong.

“Lord I can’t believe I just said that to my friend. Please forgive me and work in my heart a way for me to ask her forgiveness too! Ugh.”

“Lord, why did I let this bill get past due?! Oh man I do NOT want to tell my husband about this. But I know it is your will that I do. UGH! PLEASE prepare my heart for this. Give me perseverance and focus so I follow through. And Lord - please let Him be in a good mood when He gets home.”

Yeah, sometimes things get lost in there. 

“Lord, I am so frustrated with my kids today. I feel so guilty about how I handled it, but I know it is not your will for us to be burdened with the guilt of our sins all day long and forever! Take this guilt away now, Lord, and create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within me… So I can move forward and mother my children in a healthy zone for the next 3 ½ hours until bedtime gets here!”

Or until they crash. Whichever comes first. 

Whether you live in the country or the city or on a houseboat - we all have garbage. Be honest with God about your garbage and be ready for Him to be honest with you. The results might be a pleasant surprise.

How do you deal with the garbage that piles up everyday?

House Pictures - Now with Siding!

I've been waiting to post pictures until the siding is done. But I feel like sharing a little early.  This has been Brad's project this summer when he isn't at work.  He has done a beautiful job and the back of the house is actually even a little further now then when I took these.  It's going to be so beautiful when complete.  Having pictures to share now will make future pictures more fun anyway.  :)

The siding is a muted green color.

(Above) This is the east side of the house - the one that faces the fields and not the road.  People driving by don't get to see it, but this is what I see when I pull in and get out of my van.  Makes me smile pretty much every time.

(Above) This is the public face of the house.  Faces north - you can see it as you drive up.  The gables will get a split shake shingle in a dark brown.  Added little detail we are excited about.  The porch has a future as well, but serves it's purpose quite well right now.  In fact, it's totally fine with me that you can only access it from the house.  Makes it tough for animals and strangers to be up there.  :)

(Above) This is the west side and faces the road.  The picture makes it look dark.  Looking forward to some creative landscaping around those basement windows.

(Above) This is the south side and the most complicated as far as siding goes.  The little angles on each side of the chimney had to be roofed, and Brad had to build a little roof thing over there on the right (above that door), just to even things out and make it look right.  Plus there are just a lot of tiny little pieces of siding to cut.  That skinny roof over there doesn't actually serve much of a purpose other than aesthetically.  The house plans had a screened in porch coming out of that door, so eventually we will add that.  Looking forward to the chimney being trimmed out.  I think it will look really cool with the finishing touches.  

Oh, yeah, and check out that grass!!  Very fun to have grass over most of our yard now.  Still pretty bumpy, but one thing at a time. :)

Ever had a house remodeling project go on FOREVER?  Yeah, we can relate to that.  Building, remodeling, whatever.  Pretty sure on almost everyone's house, there is always something that needs to be done.  

Why My Job Is Similar to A Meditation Retreat

This is the view from where I’ve been spending a lot of time the last few weeks.  It’s quiet.  There are no people.  As I walk into onto the cow lot I can hear geese on the water in the timber.  Last weekend there were a couple of deer hanging out near an alcove in the trees.  No cars.  No whiney children.  Some mooing and the sound of my pitchfork. It begets a lot of time to think and pray.  I love it.



On one hand, lately, I’ve been feeling really isolated.  I mean, when I go to work, there is one other person that I mainly interact with.  When I’m at home working, it’s mostly my kids.  Thankfully I have a church and a great group of friends I can seek out when I get some free time. 

But really the solitude has been amazing.  It has given me opportunity to pray more.  It prompts me to reflect on the life of my dad, who has been doing this work forever.  It’s inspired a handful of writing ideas, and allows me time to roll an idea around in my head for awhile, instead of jotting it down quick and then rushing off to the next thing. 

This job has been a blessing, in more ways than one.  I think my brain is really enjoying it.  And knowing that many people have far fewer quiet moments of reflection, it moves me to want to share my moments even more.

Luxury

There are some nice things about living in town. But my heart is, well, out in the middle of nowhere, and I'm looking forward to getting there.

I can't wait to have a clothesline, rippling with clean clothes and sheets. I have always loved being able to put rugs out on the line, or a big quilt that could just use some fresh air.
Fresh air for my kids.. and me. Even the wind, despite it's strength, will be welcome. I know it will be strong, and at times frustrating, but hopefully it will remind me of my place in the universe and the control that I lack. It will be healthy.
Room for the dog to run, anytime she wants. And that goes for all of us. Room to run, to grow things, to sit quietly and think.
A black sky with a million stars. A quiet night with no trains, no biker bar opening down the street.
A house all our own, built by hand and heart just for us - a luxury I didn't expect to see at the age of 31.