i could never be one of those swamp explorers. i have a hard time just mustering the courage to step into my own backyard.

on tuesday night, we had 60-70 mph winds blowing through the 'hood. my yard turned into a disaster area. i went and bought a rake^* and some of those lawn trash bags and set out to do the cleanup job. it was awful. the yard was wet and the grass was tall and i was certain that an encounter with a snake or family of doodlebugs was inevitable. i decided to convince myself that the cleanup job was part of a community service project with my church and that helped a bit. but only a little bit.

^*after the yard was done, i opened the garage to store my new rake (i have an odd fear of the garage, too). propped up against the wall were TWO rakes identical to the one i just purchased. dang it.