Somewhere In The Middle

A few weekends ago SM and I were doing some backyard clean up.  After a few hours of hacking away at things we took a little break and sat on the edge of our porch, feet dangling, looking out over our domain.

We talked about how we wanted to minimize the grassy area, expand the garden area and started evaluating some of the trees and bushes. 

We decided to dig up a crepe myrtle bush that had always grown funky.  (SM hated that bush.)  We talked about moving another bush to the front to make way for more garden space.  We considered an evergreen tree that was not growing as well as we'd hoped.

"I think it has wet feet, see how the water runs past it?"  I pointed.  "Why don't we move it over to where the crepe myrtle was."

"I'd rather put it back there in front of the rose bushes by the raspberries."  SM countered, pointing to the area he wanted.

I made a face.  "I don't really want to crowd the raspberries.  Once that patch gets up and growing I'll need room to move around back there."  So we sat and thought...considering.

"Isn't it weird how we're always having to make adjustments to things?  I mean, it's strange having to think about how this is all going to look in 20 years."  I said.

"I doubt in 20 years we'll be interested in doing any of this?"  SM replied.

"What do you mean?  I said, shocked by his comment.  "What else are we going to want to be doing 20 years from now?  Crap!...We'll be in our 70's by then!"  I sat stunned by the thought.

"Well, think about it.  We go through stages in life.  Remember when we bought our first home?  How excited we were to have a lawn to mow?  Bushes to trim?  Walls to paint?  Are you really going to be interested in doing all that stuff when you're 70?"  SM asks.

"Maybe."  I said swinging my feet, feeling a bit like a little kid whose been asked to do something she doesn't want to.

"What happened to your RV dreams?"  SM prods me gently.

"Well...I thought we'd be doing a little bit of both.  You know, RV in the Winter and garden here in the Summer."  I hedged.

"You really think you'll want to be doing all this when you're 70?"  SM asks again with a wave of his hand.

"Well, you may have a point.  Maybe not.  But think how great the garden will be in 20 years, all that cheap food we won't be growing."  I asked.

"Oh, in 20 years I'm sure you'll need a permit from the government to grow all that.  Besides, by that time we'll be in our Depends on a liquid diet, probably in a nursing home."  He teases.

I laugh. 

"God, I hope not.  Just shoot me now.  So this is our 20 year plan?"  I ask him.

"As good as any..."  SM responds.

I've thought about that conversation the over the past few weeks.  It's funny how we always try to make plans.  Short term plans are easily predictable and achievable.  It's the long term plans that screw with your head.  Really.  Who knows what the world will look like in 20 years let alone what SM and I will be up to in 20 years.

But SM does make a good point.  We hope to RV.  But that depends on if we can afford it.  Who knows what gas prices will be like in the future?  What our health will be like?  If we'll even like RVing once we start.  Will SM and I like that lifestyle or will we miss our "stick and brick" home and gardens?  Who knows...

Whenever I try to make future plans for anything, I always consider what's the best possible scenario and also consider what's the worst that could happen.  And I've found that the truth can usually be found somewhere in the middle. 

That's the way it works for me.  Nothing is as bad as you think it will be and likewise it's unlikely that it's going to be "pie in the sky" either.

So we'll keep doing what we're doing for now because we're happy doing it.  Someday though, we'll be looking for a change.  And then we'll toss that into the mix and see what happens.

But still...

70?  In 20 years I'll be freakin 70!!!!

Holy CRAP!