I am thankful, as I look at the hills surrounding us this week, that there is no snow in my backyard yet. I glance from the skeleton of my little greenhouse to the sky each morning and wonder if the roof is going to go up before the white stuff comes down.
Yes, here at Reno Central, the renovations continue. And I am thankful that this is the last one in a long summer of home renovations that began back in mid May, just before it began raining for six straight weeks!
Renovations aren’t for the faint-hearted. Have a look at my backyard with its piles of scrap wood, mountains of dirt, unassembled scaffolding and discarded staircases and tell me if it doesn’t make you want to scream. And my front yard! Well, I had it more or less under control until the reno materials were stacked and left there.
However, I am thankful - very thankful - that we had the opportunity to do a few major fixups this year, because the house sure needed it.
Actually, it wasn’t so much opportunity (but the bank loan was nice) as the winds of fate that blew the roof off of our deck last year. I guess it got us motivated. And then we couldn’t stop, because so many things had waited so long to be done.
And now I finally get my greenhouse. Contrary to what I’ve been told by long time residents (hide your eyes, Laurie!), you really do need a greenhouse just to protect seedlings from the cold, nasty winds that we get in Cache Creek. Eventually, my vegetable garden will be put back into working order and the rest of the yard tidied up. Every good thing takes time.
Just like a really good Thanksgiving supper.
Thanksgiving is this weekend and while I don’t advocate being thankful only once a year, sometimes we need a tangible reminder that we have so much to be thankful for here. As much as we want to complain about our country, our province, even the towns were we live, you can’t find a better place in the world.
This weekend, if you do nothing else, pick one thing to be thankful for and share your gratitude with others.
Wendy Coomber is editor of the Ashcroft-Cache Creek Journal