So, this summer proved to be the final straw for us, at least landscape-wise. Our garden struggled, with only a couple of tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers — and it was yet another year where we were unsuccessful in raising a watermelon larger than a grape. 

The weeds in our yard finally won the battle, as we reached a point that we had more weeds than actual grass. Even without my glasses we couldn’t delude ourselves any longer that it was in any way improving. We were, in fact, losing the battle.  

Ted has been working with a lawn consultant, who in the past two weeks has killed every single blade of grass we had, as well as all the weeds. This has left us with a giant brown lawn, perfect for camouflaging copperheads. (See earlier posting!)  

I was out of town this weekend and returned home to find our yard was now a gargantuan mud pit, filled with an assortment of sprinklers and hoses.  We have clearly entered Phase Four of this “process.”  We have been instructed to keep the yard watered, in fact very wet, for the next several weeks, and if we fail in this it we clearly understand all our efforts will be in vain.

We are now in the hopeful phase, which goes something like this: Is it going to rain today?  Happy dance if so, and if not, a strategic dance with hoses and sprinklers to ensure our investment does not go down the drain (literally).

This has been our path:  Phase One: Trying to fight the weeds, cutting the weeds short to make it look like they were morphing into grass. Phase Two: moving into denial and convincing ourselves that it seemed like the weeds were going away. Phase Three: finally hitting bottom, agreeing to ask for help. And now Phase Four: moving forward with a sense of hope (and a final shred of dignity!).

As I sipped my coffee this morning and looked out on the expanse of mud, it made me think that “growing” is something we do each day at the foundation.  The growth of your funds, the care and watering of all of our precious relationships, the quest for growth to accomplish more good. Together, with your help, we are growing a big garden that will provide for needs across the state. 

And lucky for you, we have an incredibly talented and committed staff that will work with you, to support you in your efforts.  None of us have to do this on our own.