While I am Away
Shortly after I got back from my one year tour in Korea, I passed the one year mark of active duty service. My wife and I went out to dinner, because it was her anniversary as much as it was mine. You see we had been married 6 years when I joined and already had 3 children, so we all but signed the contract together. Looking back at that dinner my wife commented that when she done the numbers, and found that I had spent ~6 of the last 10 years away from home. That includes 2 years deployed, one year in Korea, over 12 field exercises of various lengths, four ~30 day long visits to foreign countries and over 18 months at MOS or rank specific training away from home. During those times my wife ran the household, organized and directed our 5 children (4 with special needs) , oversaw the rebuild of our home, dealt with neighbors, managed our money, repaired and maintained our yard, tools, garden, etc. At times it seemed that things ran better when I was gone, and when I returned she patiently worked with me and the children during integration.
This becomes relevant because when I left active duty service 2 years ago, and started our work at LFV I joined the National Guard. I did this mostly to finish out my time so I could retain my retirement, and we were willing to work around the 1 weekend a month, 2 weeks a year training schedule. It has, of course, become a bit more than that which is why from time to time I don’t write or post anything because its hard to do that from a tent. I have again been engaged in 3 week of my 2 weeks a year, and as usual my wife has been managing, one could even say thriving in my absence. Her attention has been focus on getting our remaining children ready for the upcoming school year and finishing many projects on our urban farm. It is always both heart warming and frustrating to see how much is getting done in my absence.
Of the lingering projects that have been on the list for completion my wife (Celeste) one of them almost immediately after I left. If of you remember the shed we built in May-June, it has survived with a tarp roof for the last 3 months while we waited to acquire the materials to shingle it properly. One of the key points of the shed project was to build it with out spending any money on its construction other then nails, screws and gas used to pick up the free materials stuff up. Celeste had organized the collection process for materials last spring and we had everything to build with but quality roofing material. Just before I left for my 2 week drill I was able to batter some work on their property for a large stack of roofing tiles and tar paper that our neighbors wanted to get rid of. LFV’s 2nd VP Chris and my son Ephriam spend two days laying tar paper and placing the tiles, completing the roof with materials to spare. The picture below shows Ephriam after he nailed in the last tile.
Item number two, was the completion of a family fenced in area. When we put in the food plots and poultry yards in we did so as part of larger plan with fencing that would allow for a private family area, a small orchard and a goose run. So my wife in an effort to claim some of our yard before I turn it all into garden focused on staking out a space for our family. I put the posts in before I left at ~8 foot intervals with two sets of gate post installed around a large stump left over from a Maple tree we had to cut down shortly after we moved in. As soon as the roof was on Celeste started place the horizontal supports and Chris placed the vertical fence planks. There was some confusion about the best height, width and horizontal staggering between the builders. In the end Celeste won out over all others, as I knew she would. Just like she did when I wanted the 4×4 post to be the same height and she wanted them varied so bird houses could be placed on the tall ones this fall.
During the process they had to fix some issued that came up pretty quick. One of those was Cooper our children Beagle. He didn’t appreciate being cut off from his favorite distractions our Ancona ducks. SO he began testing the fence and gates to find a weakness. In response, the team placed stone blocks under the gates and buried chicken wire secured to the back side of the fence so he couldn’t dig under. But he still found a way by climbing the stump and climbing over. So a fence was constructed around the stump to foil Coopers plan. The finished project looks great and will serve our families needs well. Whether that’s family cookouts in the back, grass for small children to play on or Celeste puttering in her raised flower beds this space will be enjoyed.
As always though, completed projects lead to more projects. Like building bird houses with the kids this fall, building a duck house that fits in the food plot space well or the need for more than one watering hole since we had to separate our small Ancona ducks for our Geese and Peking ducks. So or boys and Chris spend about an hour a day ever other day digging out a space to build a permanent pond for the geese. It started out with our youngest digging a hole in the back into a larger plan approved and overseen by Celeste. I am not to sure about it but have been advise to keep my doubts to myself until I get home. So far I have been impressed, so I will try and patiently observe from afar. I hope that those that have deployed before will appreciate the challenge that can be. In the mean time find joy in the beauty around you and remember that progress not perfection in the goal. Deven Little
